This quirky, only-in-Arizona Christmas tree was named among best in the US. How to see it

A Christmas tree fit for a desert has been named the best Christmas light display in Arizona.

Travel + Leisure recently released a list of the best Christmas light displays in every state, selecting one attraction for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its selections included Christmas at Walt Disney World for Florida, Gaylord Opryland Resort for Tennessee and the Dana Point Harbor Boat Parade of Lights for California.

But the editors' choice for Arizona wasn't an intricate winter wonderland like Scottsdale's Christmas at the Princess (also praised by Travel + Leisure) or Tucson's Winterhaven Festival of Lights, instead favoring an only-in-Arizona display to represent the Grand Canyon State: a Christmas tree made from tumbleweeds.

And you can soon see the tree, which editors described as a "quirky area tradition," light up downtown Chandler.

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Where is the tumbleweed Christmas tree in Arizona?

The Tumbleweed Tree is displayed every holiday season at Dr. A.J. Chandler Park in downtown Chandler.

How tall is Arizona's tumbleweed Christmas tree?

The Tumbleweed Tree is constructed from a 35-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide frame made from chicken wire.

The tree's height and width have changed over time, but on average, it's about 33 feet tall and 18 feet wide at the base, according to Chandler city staff. The first tree, built in 1957, was about 30 feet tall.

About 1,000 tumbleweeds, essentially the skeletons of an invasive plant called Russian thistle, are collected by Chandler's Park Operations Division each year and fill the frame of the tree. The tumbleweeds are painted white, adorned with about 80 pounds of glitter and sprayed with flame retardant to prevent fires before the tree is strung with more than 1,200 LED lights.

What is the history of the Tumbleweed Tree?

A Chandler resident named Earle Barnum proposed the idea of the Tumbleweed Tree for the city's Christmas decorations, claiming inspiration from a tree he remembered in Elkhart, Indiana, made of pine branches.

When the first Tumbleweed Tree was built in 1957, it was overshadowed by the 80 4-foot, silver-painted cotton boll wreaths mounted on light poles in downtown Chandler and along Arizona Avenue, celebrating the city's agricultural roots.

The community didn't begin to consider the tree as a focal point until around 1959, when a local newspaper, the Chandler Arizonan, highlighted the "great Tumbleweed Tree" and excitement about the wreaths died down when Chandler's decorating committee switched to traditional green wreaths for the light pole decorations.

A new tree is assembled each year from actual tumbleweeds that city staff collect from roads and highways. The city's Streets Department did the job in the tree's early years and in 1978 the city passed the responsibility to the Parks Department, according to the city's website.

Dave Barnes, a park maintenance supervisor, built the gold star that tops the tree in 1986. It's stood atop the Tumbleweed Tree every year since.

Is the Tumbleweed Tree famous?

The recent accolade from Travel + Leisure as Arizona's best Christmas light display is just the latest brush with fame for the Tumbleweed Tree.

It generated international attention in December 2013 after it was featured in a National Geographic article titled "The Weed That Won The West." The tree was mentioned alongside another Southwestern holiday tradition: a 12- to 14-foot-tall tumbleweed snowman displayed on Interstate 40 in Albuquerque, near the offices of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority.

That same month, Cecily Strong mentioned the Tumbleweed Tree as part of a joke on a Weekend Update sketch on "Saturday Night Live."

"A town in Arizona has constructed a 40-foot-tall Christmas tree out of tumbleweeds," she said, "and then seconds later, a gentle breeze stole Christmas."

When is the tumbleweed Christmas tree lighting?

The Tumbleweed Tree will set Chandler aglow starting with a tree lighting kickoff event from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, 3 S. Arizona Ave. The tree will be lit after sunset each night until Jan. 7.

A photographer will take free pictures of families at the Tumbleweed Tree from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12.

Here's when you can get photos with Santa:

• 4:30-9 p.m. Dec. 2.

• 5-7 p.m. Dec. 7.

• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 9 and Dec. 16.

Details: www.chandleraz.gov.

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Reach the reporter at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tumbleweed Christmas tree? Check out the best light display in Arizona