Stuck at home? Missing the beautifully anti-climatic moment where the lights are switched on, and everyone screams? Have no fear; Bwog is here to give all the tips for hosting your own tree lighting ceremony in just ten easy steps!

With December fast approaching, one’s mind begins to adjust to the holiday season. Gone are the days of, as Michael Miller states, “Spooky Season,” and before you know it, the holiday spirit will be barrelling upon you with no intention of stopping. Obviously, few things scream holiday season more than the College Walk Tree Lighting Ceremony. This year with everyone scattered across the globe, Bwog wanted to make sure everyone had the same synonymous Tree Lighting Ceremony. If you follow all the steps we list to the tee, we guaranteed you a Tree Lighting you’ll never forget.

What you will need:

  • A tree (any species will do, this is where you can get creative – I personally will use a palm tree)
  • Lights (BYO lighting: fairy lights, candles, flashlights, floor lamps, fake police sirens. if it lights up, you climb up a nearby tree and stick it up there.)
  • Two “free” T-shirts (to be handed out at random to family or friends before the lighting of the tree)
  • An acapella group (if an entire group is unavailable, one or two singers should be sufficient)
  • Cold Weather (unfortunately, you can’t really control this one)

Steps and Procedures:

  1. Manufacture a freezing environment. Some of you may, unfortunately, already live in one—The rest of you gotta crank that AC up.
  2. Begin your night standing in line for a long sleeve t-shirt for an hour only to get to the front of the line and realize they ran out at the beginning of the night. It helps you find enough friends and family to stand in front of you until the shirts run out.
  3. Wear your cutest coat and hat and scarf, even if you live somewhere warm.
  4. Swiss Miss hot chocolate in a paper cup !! For the ~festive spirit~
  5. Stand on the sidewalk for a minimum of 2 hours and then scream in pure joy.
  6. Count down from ten and then plug in one, singular lamp. 
  7. Pose for blurry flash pictures with your parents! with your pets! with your stuffed animals!
  8. Have someone step on your freezing toes for 2 hours as you make small talk. 
  9. Eat one cold pastry. Throw some hot chocolate on your cold hands. Rejoice!
  10. Finally, go to bed and tell the person you live with (if you are living with another human) to turn on the lights in your bedroom at some random point throughout the night. The light will be so bright, making you squint and adjust to your new atmosphere. this will help replicate both the anticipation before Columbia turns on the lights and the shock you feel when the lights finally turn on at the tree lighting! 

Lit Tree Via Wikimedia Commons