Christmas may still be over a month away, but a city hall kicked off the season Thursday night with a special event.

Mayor Scott Gillingham, joined by several other dignitaries and community members, flipped the switch to turn on the lights of the 50 ft artificial Christmas tree in front of Winnipeg's city hall.

The roughly three-story-tall tree weighs 9,965 lbs and is covered with over 64,000 lights and thousands of blue and gold decorations. 

The artificial tree was first installed in 2019. Before that, the city would hunt for a real tree from a yard in Winnipeg. 

The tree and its lights will be on display until the New Year.