Huge tree hoisted at Distillery District to kick off holiday season in Toronto

A huge tree was delivered to Toronto's Distillery District on Monday, an unofficial kick-off to the holiday season in the city as the historic destination prepares to host its annual Distillery Winter Village.

The popular holiday market is back again in 2025, set to kick off with a tree-lighting ceremony taking place at 6 p.m. on opening night, Nov. 13, 2025, and running through Jan. 4, 2026. 

But passersby in the Distillery District in early November are already being treated to a preview of the enormous tree that will serve as the centrepiece of this year's festivities.

The 55-foot-tall tree will soon be adorned with 80,000 Christmas lights — but the public will have to wait just a bit longer until the official tree lighting later this month to witness the full display.

Check out this photo gallery of the massive new tree at the Distillery District.