Events

Annual tree lighting marks a special tie between Boston and Nova Scotia

Every year the people of Nova Scotia give a tree to Boston as a way to say “thank you’’ for the assistance Boston gave after a large explosion wrecked Halifax in 1917. This has been a tradition since 1971. Bostonians gather in the Common every holiday season to watch the tree lighting ceremony. Evan Richman / The Boston Globe

By Associated Press

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BOSTON (AP) — A Christmas tree lighting on Boston Common is marking 100 years of friendship between Massachusetts’ capital city and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

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Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil will join Democratic Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Thursday to light Boston’s official Christmas tree.

Nova Scotia has sent Boston a Christmas tree for the past 46 years as a gesture of thanks for coming to the province’s aid following the Dec. 6, 1917 explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax Harbor.

This year’s tree is a 53-foot white spruce donated by a Cape Breton Island family.

The ceremony also includes the lighting of holiday decorations throughout the historic city park, a fireworks display and performances from the cast of “Elf: The Musical,” R&B group All 4 One and others.