New York City has the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Though lovely, no doubt, I will skip the tree lighting in Gotham with its scant cheap beer. Instead, I would prefer to celebrate amongst thousands in upstate New York at the Rochester Genesee Keg Tree lighting. But you don’t even need to choose between the two. You can catch both since the Big Apple tree lighting happens on Wednesday, November 30, and Genesee’s keg lighting will occurs two days later on Friday the 2nd.
The keg tree has been a Rochester tradition since 2013. 532 kegs make up the tree, which is adorned with 30,000 lights. And the lighting ceremony, according to Jaime Polisoto, brand director for Genesee, “includes a huge party with beer trucks, food trucks, and a tree that flashes along to holiday music.”
In addition to the flagship Genesee Cream Ale, you can also drink a cinnamon cream ale, known as Keg Tree Ale that Genny brews just for the occasion.
The keg tree lighting, which Polisoto calls “a highly anticipated tradition that signals the start of the holiday season,” has not been held for the last two years because of Covid. And it seems that Rochesterians are going to show up in numbers for the event; the brewery expects over 5,000 people for the tree lighting.
The Friday weather looks like it will be unseasonably balmy: 47 degrees and partly sunny. But single digits and snow would not deter the hardy locals. After all, as Polisoto says, “There’s nothing more Rochester than thousands of people gathering to light up a keg tree and drink cold beer in December.”
If you miss the lighting, you can always see the keg tree at the brewery, where it overlooks their outdoor beer garden.
