November 30, 2014 – Last Monday, Citywalk Hollywood held their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony with contestants from The Voice. On hand this year was Carson Daly and the top ten finalists from The Voice which films daily on the Universal front lot in Soundstage 12.
Also featured at the event was a humongous 40-foot Christmas tree featuring more than 200,000 LED lights that sync in unison with the Five Towers stage. With a free concert by the finalist on the 5 Towers stage, guests were treated to the appearance of Santa Claus to help countdown the lighting spectacle. Steamers flew high into the air to bring excitement for the opening of the holiday season at Universal CityWalk.
CityWalk’s holiday celebration runs from November 24 to December 25 on select dates with falling snow every hour between 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM plus a photo opportunity with Santa Claus himself in the fountain plaza. Lighting in and around CityWalk has also been adjusted to help ring in the holiday spirit.
We’ve included photos and a video from the proceeding event below.
Chris Lord is an editor-at-large for Inside Universal.
From his first visit to Universal in 1986 with the original attractions such as A-Team, Battlestar Galactica, and King Kong, Chris admired Universal Studios for its experience of “Riding the Movies.” Chris is a huge JAWS fan and looked forward to the day when he could visit Universal Studios Florida to experience the JAWS ride in Orlando. His dreams came true with his first visit to Universal Florida in 1998. After his visit to Orlando, Chris became an employee of Universal Studios Hollywood in 1998 for the second Halloween Horror Nights event and then went on to become an attraction host for show control and a ride operator for Back to the Future: The Ride and Terminator 2:3D.
Chris left Universal Studios Hollywood to pursue a new career in commercial aviation. With his desire for Universal Studios, he now utilizes his benefits of flight travel to visit Universal Studios Theme Parks across the globe. With his knowledge and passion for Universal’s history, Chris enjoys sharing his Universal experiences for those who wish to know more about the inside.
You may reach him at chris@insideuniversal.net.
