Grand-Place Christmas tree to arrive on Thursday

Brussels is gearing up for the winter holiday season, and one of the most important decorations arrives this week.

The yet-to-be-decorated Christmas tree will arrive under police escort just before dawn on Thursday, Bruzz reports.

It will be fully installed on Thursday and then decorated a few days later on 19 November.

“It will then come to life on Friday 25 November, from 18.00, during the opening ceremony of Winter Wonders,” the city announced in a press release.

This year’s Christmas tree is a 20-metre-high spruce from Raeren, one of the nine German-speaking Belgian municipalities in the province of Liège.

“The tree was planted in the 1980s by the previous residents when the house was built,” the city explained.

“Now that it is mature and getting too big, the owners are donating it. However, its succession is already assured thanks to the planting of 10 new trees.”

After the Winter Wonders celebration concludes on the first of January next year, the tree itself will be transformed into various objects.

People can watch the Christmas tree once it is erected by tuning into a webcam that streams from the Grand Place.

The tree is only one part of larger winter celebrations in Brussels, which include an outdoor Christmas market with over 200 stalls, a ferris wheel, merry-go-grounds, an ice-skating rink, a sound and light show and cultural activities.

Winter Wonders takes place from 25 November 2022 to 1 January 2023, in the centre of Brussels.