Old Sacramento holiday tree arrives, downtown ice rink opens, radio station starts 24/7 Christmas music
Sacramento is gearing up for the holidays with three big signs of the season rolling in this week.
Early Thursday morning, the Old Sacramento holiday tree arrived at the waterfront.
Crews worked throughout the day to install the tapered white fir, felled from Hatchet Mountain in Shasta County, in its usual spot between Front and Second streets.
Like in years past, Stage Nine Exhibits will be decorating the tree with tens of thousands of lights and hundreds of other decorations. This year's lighting ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Over at 7th and K streets, another major holiday tradition opened for the winter season on Thursday: the Downtown Sacramento Ice Rink.
Thursday's opening day ceremony includes a ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m. Admission will just be $2 when the rink opens up to the public at 2 p.m. to celebrate opening day. The rest of the season, general admission will run $15 for adults and $8 for children 6 and under.
The ice rink will be open Tuesdays through Sundays through Jan. 19, 2026.
Finally, Sacramento radio station 92.5 The Breeze announced that it would be starting its nonstop holiday music playlist on Friday. As of 8:50 a.m., expect to hear the usual Christmas standards from Mariah Carey, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, and others.
Notably, the same station flipped over to its Christmas playlist on Nov. 1 last year.