Media organization Newsweek is asking readers to vote for the Best Christmas Tree in the U.S. The field has already been narrowed to 15 trees, and Galleria Dallas and the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden are in the running.
Dallas is the only city to have two trees on the list, vying against iconic conifers at places such as Rockefeller Center in New York City, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., and the National Christmas Tree in Washington DC.
The selection is part of Newsweek’s annual Readers Choice Awards, and readers can cast one vote per day at newsweek.com/readerschoice/best-christmas-tree-2026 through Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. CT.
The two North Texas trees could not be more different from one another — and neither of them were chopped down.
Here’s what to know about the two contenders in Dallas:
Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden
The tree at Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden, which is part of the annual 12 Days of Christmas display with a dozen gazebos depicting the popular holiday carol and a Christmas Village, is a 23-foot-tall German Christmas pyramid, or Weihnachtspyramide. Octagonal and four-tiered, it was built in Germany by 15 artisans from the Ore mountains over the course of six months.
The Arboretum’s tree is painted blue, white and yellow and has a red roof with a propeller on top of it. It features 22 hand-carved figurines depicting a nativity scene, six flower children representing flowers at the venue, nutcrackers dressed up as shopkeepers, angels and wooden candles on each level. If that wasn’t enough, each level spins.
Galleria Dallas
Families have skated around this tree during the holiday season for decades. Located inside the Galleria mall, it is the largest indoor Christmas tree in America, standing at 95 feet tall.
A team of 50 people constructs the tree over the course of five days. It has 700 branches, over 200,000 programmable lights and a 100-pound 10-foot LED star.
Nominees for Newsweek’s program for Best Christmas Tree 2026 were selected by a panel of travel experts.
Newsweek will announce the 10 winning trees on Nov. 25, 2025.
The Go See DFW calendar is a partnership between KERA and The Dallas Morning News.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
