Hallmark Channel National Christmas Tree Lighting 2017: Performers And When To Watch

Hallmark Channel is airing its exclusive 2017 National Christmas Tree Lighting special on Monday night for the second year.

The ceremony was filmed on the Ellipse at President’s Park at the White House on Nov. 30, and now people from all over will get to see the holiday excitement unfold when it airs on the network tonight at 7 p.m. EST.

Tickets to the event were given out to the public through an online lottery with The National Tree organization. The yearly lighting ceremony, which is put on by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, is celebrating its 95th year.

During the broadcast, viewers will get to see all the lights on the National Christmas Tree, which is a living tree that can be found year-round in President’s Park, and watch as the area is transformed into a Christmas spectacle.

Not only will the large, main tree, which is a Colorado blue spruce from Virginia, be lit up, but there will also be 56 smaller trees surrounding it, which represent every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia. All of the trees will be outfitted with lights and special ornaments.

Aside from the main event of the tree lighting, viewers will also see a slew of stars hosting and performing during the ceremony.

“Today” host Kathie Lee Gifford and Dean Cain, who recently played a news broadcaster fighting to become a morning show host in Hallmark Channel’s “Broadcasting Christmas,” are the emcees of the special.

As for the night’s performers, they include Hallmark star Jack Wagner (“When Calls The Heart”), Craig Campbell, Wynonna, The Beach Boys, Boys II Bow Ties, The Texas Terrors, Mannheim Steamroller, Steve Gibson, Us The Duo and the U.S. Navy Concert Band and Sea Chanters.

If you miss the broadcast of the event on Hallmark Channel, don’t worry. Starting Dec. 5, the ceremony will be available to stream on the National Christmas Tree Lighting website, thenationaltree.org.

No matter where or when people watch, the National Park says that everyone will enjoy the “lovely melding of music, outdoor performance, and holiday cheer” and that the “National Christmas Tree Lighting is a great example of the unique ways that people can experience national parks.”