Today, Galleria Dallas will begin the creation of what has become the most iconic holiday visual in the state of Texas: its 95-foot-tall Christmas tree, the tallest indoor holiday tree in the nation. The massive evergreen has been a fixture at the shopping center for decades, and taking an annual photo with the tree has become a cherished tradition. This year, for the first time, the shopping center will offer the Official Galleria Dallas Tree Photo, turning a beloved holiday tradition into a lasting keepsake for guests.
The professional photo sessions, which will take place in front of the tree at Center Court, are $10 and include up to three poses and six guests. The photos will be sent digitally, with prints available for an additional $5 apiece. Sessions will be offered from Nov. 13 through Jan. 3. Guests are encouraged to bundle pre-booked tree photo sessions with Santaland and SNOWDAY tickets for a full day of holiday activities.
It takes a team of nearly 50 of Santa’s best elves five days to construct the tree. After the massive steel frame, which weighs five tons, goes up, teams will work to install more than 850 branches. It took more than 14,000 shop hours to make all the branches, each hand-sewn with twigs and the size of a small Christmas tree.
Galleria Dallas’ Christmas tree features LED lighting by Twinkly, the Italian firm that also creates the lighted tree at the Vatican. The technology allows for brilliant, animated and immersive light shows. More than 215,000 programmable LED lights display animations of dancing reindeer, Santa Claus, floating candy canes and holiday gifts across the tree’s surface. A 100-pound, 10-foot LED star, the first of its kind in the United States, tops the tree.
The tree will be complete on Thursday, Nov. 5 and will stand until Monday, Jan. 4. A time-lapse video of the construction of a previous Galleria Dallas Christmas Tree can be found here.
For most North Texans, the finest visual of the Galleria Dallas Christmas Tree is during the center’s famed Grand Tree Lightings, which occur at noon on Black Friday, Nov. 27, Saturday, Nov. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 5. These massive, free tree lightings feature skate shows with Olympic skaters, whimsical group numbers with students from the Galleria Dallas Ice Skating Center and Missile Toes, the famous backflipping Santa who shoots fireworks from his skates.
Galleria Dallas’ Christmas Tree provides special holiday memories throughout the season. More skaters circle the tree each season than the one at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Each year, many couples also decide to pop the question while skating around the special tree. Several times each day, shoppers stop to watch the Illumination Celebration, when the tree’s 215,000 Twinkly lights dance in time to specially orchestrated music. The Illumination Celebration is mirrored on the two 36-foot trees on Level 1 near Grand Lux Cafe and Alo. The Illumination Celebration will occur daily at noon and at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. starting on Black Friday.
The entire shopping center is decked to match the splendor of the Christmas tree. There are 44 palm trees lining Level 3 custom wrapped with an additional 50,000 lights. Ten additional Christmas trees (two 36-foot, two 12-foot and six 9-foot trees) throughout the shopping center are decorated with an additional 40,000 lights. Outside the center, the 30 trees along the Dallas North Tollway are adorned with 100,000 red LED lights, welcoming visitors to Galleria Dallas with a vibrant holiday display.
Each day during the holiday season, Galleria Dallas hosts amazing free shows and entertainment. A full list of the holiday experiences at Galleria Dallas can be found at galleriadallas.com/holiday.
About Galleria Dallas
Galleria Dallas is an iconic shopping center with a unique collection of more than 200 retailers, restaurants and experiences including Netflix House, Macy’s, the world’s only GAP, Banana Republic and Old Navy combo anchor, The Westin Galleria Dallas and the signature Galleria Ice Skating Center. Welcoming more than 12 million visitors annually, only Galleria Dallas delivers the consummate Dallas shopping experience, with retailers including Alo, UNIQLO and the newly opened Aritzia. Visit galleriadallas.com for hours and to learn more about the shopping center. Galleria Dallas is managed by Trademark Property Group, Inc. Galleria Dallas, 13350 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas, 75240.
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