Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas Tree

Portland’s living room. There are all sorts of wonderful events here. Great place for people-​watching. The center of the Portland universe.

Pretty but crowded. Around Christmas time there is a great tree and a few Christmas booths and music.

The Living Christmas tree in Pioneer square always lights up a drab and rainy Portland day. It’s a really tall tree and is perfect for making a Portlandia Christmas/​holiday/​non-​denominational family photo. The tree should be on every Portland winter visitor’s itinerary. Locals, don’t forget to make some great memories too.

Black Friday shopping with frantic crowds trying to tear each other apart … most definitely not!
Holiday lights scattered and sparkling up into the West Hills … yes
The Portland Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas Tree lights popping on … the best of all
This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas in Portland. I love the sense of magic it spreads around the downtown area. I look forward to it every year just like I look forward to the White Stag’s nose being lit up red on the Portland, Oregon sign. Another treat is the Thompson Elk Fountain statue getting his red-​ribboned wreath. And, of course, there’s always the martini glass up in the hills as well. Oh, and Pittock Mansion and Zoo Lights and the Grotto all lit up for Christmas.
So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Got to Pioneer Courthouse Square around 3:30ish…not that crowded! I went into Starbucks to get a hot chocolate and then mingle with friends for a couple of hours before the lighting of the Christmas tree. It was a beautiful crisp day for it! Blue skies, not too cold, it was perfect!
As time drew closer to the official lighting, it got more and more crowded. Mr. Christmas tried to save a spot for 30 of his closest friends. Wasn’t happening this year. I have to say, Ioved his enthusiasm! Especially when he tried to get the crowd to do the wave… hillarious. A couple of times he almost gave up, and then would give it one more go! The candy canes were much appreciated, thanks Mr. Christmas!
The symphony and Pink Martini and all the other musicians playing favorite Christmas songs have almost got me in the Christmas spirit! I really enjoyed the singing by the Von Trapp family… beautiful voices! It was my first time going to the Christmas Tree lighting, and I would definitely go again next year!

Took me forever to get down the stairs since I kept seeing people almost fall. I wasn’t going to be one of them. It was icy to get to, light snow and once again freezing. So I took forever and it was well worth it «Gorgeous big Christmas tree!!» I’m so glad my bff encouraged me to go see this tree. My Christmas mood was all humbug and blah blah blah. but being here and visiting this tree it wasn’t so bad. Didn’t smell like overwhelming pine.

It’s officially Christmas season, fa la la la la! The crowds! The smells! The sales! The music! I love it all. And what better way to kick it off after Thanksgiving than in Portland’s Living Room with 10,000 people singing carols, meeting neighbors, and shooting communion-​sized glasses of bubbly (more on that in a moment).
Muchas gracias to Nick Fish and crew for making sure there are fun, free events for us lucky Portlanders. This year’s music was by the Portland Youth Choir with members of Pink Martini, the hosts from Channel 8, and of course an appearance from The Jolly One himself. There was also fancy pair of prizes from Tiffany and Co. Definitely a family-​friendly event, it’s geared toward the kiddos, and though a big crowd, totally appropriate for all ages.
We situated ourselves behind the sound booth around 5:30 and were almost immediately handed tiny little cups, courtesy of one older gentleman, a New Yorker wtih an accent so thick I only caught every third word. But the gist of his story was that for many years, he watched the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, and always brought a bottle of bubbly to share. He was feeling homesick, so decided to bring that tradition to Pioneer Square. Sadly, most people around us reacted to him negatively and wanted nothing to do with him. I was technically sober as a nun but feeling a little tipsy with the holiday spirit, so I was game. ‘Cause you know, it’s always a great idea to take drinks from strangers.
Anyway, at precisely 6:11 pm, they flipped the switch and that glorious 75-​footer was all aglow, beautiful and sparkling. The weather held, too! No rain until after the lighting. Our new friend in the motorized chair popped the cork out of the actual bottle of champagne he’d brought, not the 40 of Old E I think we were all expecting, and told me to do the honors. One tiny shot of bubbly later, I turned to thank him and he was gone.
Sadly, this year’s tree lighting was soon overshadowed by some bad news that a very troubled young man had intended to set off a car bomb nearby. But that doesn’t make the actual tree any less pretty or wonderful, which is what this review is for.
Obviously, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. And if that happens, you bet I’ll be back down to Pioneer Square with a hot cider in my cold little hands, taking photos of that tree. Happy Holidays!

I went for the tree lighting ceremony, it seemed like a nice thing to do right after thanksgiving when your family is 3000 or so miles away. Of course, I guess I managed to make them a little worried this year, what with that car bomb plot/​arrest that was apparently happening nearby…
The ceremony start time was at 5:30pm, but the tree lighting didn’t happen until about 6:11 pm. Something to do with being on TV. It’s kind of fun to be out, in a big happy crowd, but it doesn’t seems so interesting to watch it on TV, IMO. But whatever. Christmas sing-​a-​long was encouraged, though the crowd wasn’t all that into it. They were more into the Christmas songs than the attempted sing-​a-​long at the Oregon symphony waterfront park event; people do know Christmas songs.
So it was nice. A happy crowd, free green flashy buttons from Cricket, Christmas pirates, a big tree… I can’t complain.

I dragged K through the throngs of 10,000 people huddled around the tree. He does not like crowds. I grew up near a famous city that had a HUGE tree lighting ceremony every year, and we would bundle up, brave the frigid temperatures, and hope that our toes would not fall off before we made it home.
I hadn’t been to a tree lighting in over twenty years, and I felt a strong need to go this year. We arrived about 20 minutes before the lighting, couldn’t really see the stage, but merrily sang along to all the carols with Pink Martini and a Youth Choir (whose official name I can’t recall!) and had a great time!
Yes there are now LED lights on the tree, and yes, there were hoards of people, but it was worth it, and terribly fun! Can’t wait until next year. And what a great way to start the Christmas season! And K had fun, and even offered to go back next year too!

This year Portland opted for energy efficient leds on the Christmas tree downtown. I admit that using energy-​efficient bulbs on our tree sounds good on paper. But I so didn’t pay my taxes for a lightly phosphorescent Christmas tree.
It glows green, but barely. In comparison with the lighted buildings around it, it looks like your Uncle Eddy after his fifth scotch on Christmas eve. And it wants a kiss on the cheek before you go to bed.
Can we please have a real tree next year? Puhleeeeeeeeze?