A view from under the Zilker tree printed in the Statesman the first year it was lit in 1967. Image: Austin History Center
The lighting of the 155-foot tree at Zilker Park fashioned from one of the city’s iconic moonlight towers is the most visible sign of the holiday season’s arrival in Austin. The tree itself dates back to 1967, with the Zilker celebration now known as the Trail of Lights dating back even further to a “Yule Fest” event first held in 1965.
A photo of the Zilker tree taken in the 1970s. Image: Austin History Center
But in 1973, the nationwide energy shortage caused by that year’s oil crisis kept the tree dark, with city officials scaling down Yule Fest 1973 to daytime events not requiring extra lighting. “Scrooge would have been proud,” opined Austin American-Statesman columnist Larry BeSaw, bemoaning the “Ghost of Energy Crisis Present.”
An article in the Austin-American Statesman announcing the return of the Zilker tree in 1974. Image: Austin History Center
But that ghost was quickly banished the next year, with the Zilker tree returning along with limited other decorative lighting around the city in 1974 — no longer “depriving our citizens of Christmas spirit,” according to chairman Richard Whorall of the city’s Energy Conservation Commission. The tree’s stuck around ever since, even staying lit when budget concerns caused the cancellation of the Trail of Lights event in 2010 and 2011. This time of year just doesn’t feel quite right without it.
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