Michelle Williams, Aloe Blacc and Craig Campbell perform at Macy’s Great Tree Lighting [PHOTOS]

Posted by | Ray Cornelius 

Atlanta officially kicked off the holidays last night at the 69th Annual Macy’s Great Tree Lighting. The festivities took place in the parking lot of Lenox Square Mall (in front of the Macy’s store) and was attended by thousands of people waiting to see the 56 foot tall tree light up the evening sky.  The event was also televised on WSB TV and was hosted by anchors, Jovita Moore and Zach Klein along with the pre-show hosted by Cadillac Jack of Kicks 101.5.

Craig Campbell

This year’s entertainment included Georgia’s own country music superstar Craig Campbell, who performed a number of his hit songs including “Outskirts of Heaven.” Chart-topping R&B singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc also hit the Macy’s stage and performed his hit single, “Candyman” as well as the Donnie Hathaway‘s classic “This Christmas” and the crowd favorite, “Feliz Navidad.”

Aloe Blacc

Grammy winning singer-songwriter and Broadway actress Michelle Williams, performed a number of holiday tunes including “Oh Holy Night.” The Destiny’s Child singer also paid a visit to young patients at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston earlier in the day.

Macy’s Magical Stars performing

Other performances included the Macy’s All-Star Holiday Choir, the Macy’s Great Tree Children’s Choir and the Macy’s Magical Stars. However, the highlight of the evening was watching Cancer and Blood Disorder patients Maybin Hornick and Abraham Carpenter, “flip the switch” to light up the tree along with Santa Claus. The young patients are part of a long standing tradition of honorary tree-lighters.  The evening concluded with an awesome fireworks show.

See more exciting images below:

“Believe” was the theme for this year’s Macy’s Great Tree Lighting

Craig Campbell

Cadillac Jack with Maybin Hornick

Aloe Blacc

Aloe Blacc

Cadillac Jack with “Miss Georgia” Kelsey Hollis 

WSB -TV hosts Jovita Moore and Zach Klein

Michelle Williams 

Michelle Williams 

Michelle Williams 

Macy’s Great Tree Children’s Choir

Maybin Hornick and Abraham Carpenter

Thousands came out to partake in the annual holiday tradition

Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Michelle Williams 

Michelle Williams 

Maybin Hornick and Abraham Carpenter

“flipping the switch” with Santa Claus

The Great Macy’s Tree is 59 foot tall and filled with 45,000 LED Lights

Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com