South Coast Plaza to welcome holiday tree, complete with fire retardant
South Coast Plaza will start its annual celebration of the holiday season Tuesday morning with a 96-foot-tall tree positioned at Town Center Park, behind the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel across Bristol Street from the Costa Mesa shopping center.
The white fir from Mount Shasta is arriving in October because it takes crews three to four weeks to prepare and decorate the tree with 100,000 LED lights — five times the amount of light on last year’s tree.
Last year’s tree was destroyed by a fire Dec. 14 apparently caused by an electrical malfunction. It was replaced by light strands containing 8,000 bulbs in the shape of a tree.
This year’s 20,000-pound tree will be treated with fire retardant and will be the first one to be illuminated with LED lights instead of incandescent bulbs.
The 35th annual tree lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Nov. 17. Admission is free, and complimentary refreshments will be served.
South Coast Plaza is at 3333 Bristol St. For more information, call (800) 782-8888 or visit southcoastplaza.com.
Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
