ByWard Market Christmas tree stakes claim as capital’s tallest

As Ottawa gets decorated for the holiday season, a new tree in the ByWard Market is staking the claim to the capital’s tallest. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

The ByWard Market District Authority says it has erected the tallest Christmas Tree in the capital city.

After a stand-in tree was used for the official tree lighting ceremony Nov. 21, the market’s official Christmas tree has now gone up, towering over the market square.

“This tree is 48 feet tall,” manager of communications for the ByWard Market District Authority Victoria Williston told CTV News. “I hear that the base in diameter is about 20 feet.”

The stand-in tree, a mere 25-feet tall, has been moved to the back of the market square.

Williston says she is hanging her hat on the fact that the ByWard Market’s tree is taller than any other in the city.

“We know that we have a number of large trees in the city. The Rideau Centre, that one is quite tall, I don’t know the height of that. But I believe this one is taller than the one at Lansdowne,” Williston said.

The tree at the Ottawa Christmas Market in front of the Aberdeen Pavillion is in fact shorter, standing 40 feet tall, according to the market’s organizer.

In the Rideau Centre, the shopping mall’s tree measures in at 36 feet tall.

Williston says the ByWard Market District Authority wanted to focus on the beautification of the market this holiday season, as it was pulling back on the number of holiday vendors being featured.

The BMDA plans to reuse the artificial 48-foot tree for years to come.

The tree, installed by Nutri-Lawn, will be a feature of a laser light show that spectators can see every night at 5:30pm and 7:30pm from now until New Years Day.

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