Arizona's tallest natural Christmas tree arrives in north Phoenix

• Santa was on hand for the occasion, as was a show choir from the Arizona Broadway Theatre.

Zoom in: This is the 25th year that Outlets North Phoenix has displayed a massive, real tree, according to general manager JoAnn Truax.

• The trees are grown in Northern California and brought to Phoenix by Victor's Custom Christmas Trees, which supplies and installs trees all over the West.

What they're saying: "In Arizona, you don't get to see very many trees like this, right?" Truax tells Axios. "And so, if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do the biggest and the best."

How it works: Over the course of a couple hours, a team of workers used a crane to raise the tree in the air, orient it vertically and deposit it in a 6-foot well installed just for holding it.

• Workers will add back in 500 branches that were removed during the travel process and will spray the tree with a green-tinted flame retardant.
• It will take two weeks for the tree to be fully decorated with more than 5,000 ornaments and 1.5 miles of LED string lights.

Flashback: In 2006, a pre-megafame Taylor Swift performed at the tree lighting.