WATCH: San Antonio’s virtual 2020 Christmas tree lighting ceremony

SAN ANTONIO – An annual tradition in San Antonio will carry on virtually this year in celebration of Christmas.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s tree lighting ceremony will be livestreamed on H-E-B’s YouTube channel, starting at 7 p.m. Friday.

San Antonio’s official Christmas tree arrived in Travis Park on Tuesday. The tree is an annual gift to the city from H-E-B.

This year’s tree is a concolor fir from Northern Michigan, near Lake Michigan. It will be decorated with more than 10,000 red, white and blue lights and dozens of handmade decorations, according to a press release from H-E-B.

The tree lights will be turned on at 7:20 p.m., followed by musical entertainment from Mariachi Las Altenas.

This is the fourth year that the tree will be displayed in Travis Park. For more than three decades before that, it was erected in front of the Alamo each year.

Leading up to the event, H-E-B handed out 10,000 holiday goodie bags with cookies and hot cocoa at select stores from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday.

Read more on KSAT.com:

• San Antonio River Walk decorated in Christmas lights early this year to spread holiday cheer
• Where to chop down your own Christmas tree in the San Antonio and Austin areas
• These are the places where you can get your photo taken with Santa this year
• Socially distanced live Christmas show coming to Freeman Coliseum in December