Zilker tree lights goes up on Tuesday

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It's that time of year again!

Austin Energy crews on Tuesday will hang 3,159 yellow, red, green and blue bulbs on 39 streamers from the top of Moonlight Tower in Zilker Park to form the annual holiday tree for the 45th consecutive year.

AE officials said the exact placement of the yellow bulbs on the streamers gives the tree its distinctive swirl pattern. The top of the tree is adorned with two stars containing 74 frosted lights each.

The 155-foot tall tree can be seen for miles as it signals the start of the holiday season when it is lit the first Sunday in December and stays lit until midnight every night until the end of the year.

The tree will be lit at 6 p.m. by the winner of a children’s Zilker Tree coloring contest sponsored by the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

Dating back to almost the invention of the light bulb, the citizens of Austin purchased the city’s first urban lighting system in the form of the Moonlight Towers – and Austin Energy was born. Austin Energy celebrated its centennial in 1995 by refurbishing the 17 remaining Moonlight Towers – which cast a soft moonbeam effect – to preserve them for posterity.

The Moonlight Towers are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and are the only working lighting system of their type in the world.

Tuesday's installation starts at 9 a.m. with the streamers being laid out, bulbs checked and replaced, followed by the streamers going up from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.