A Tree Burning Celebration on New Year’s Day

For years I have been hearing about an annual Seattle ritual on New Year’s Day, where folks head to the beach for a late afternoon polar bear swim, then burn their Christmas trees on the beach. New Year’s Day this year was beautiful and sunny, so we decided to head to the beach just before sunset and check out the festivities.

The sunset was just incredible. Here are a few shots from the evening.

Highlights included a curious sea lion that swam up and down the beach checking on what the humans were up to...no doubt because of all the fires lining the ½ mile of sandy beach. Also, just having so many unrelated folks show up to burn their trees and enjoy the sunset was touching.

This is not an 'organized' event, but rather an idea that took root in the community, that is now ritualized annually. There were a couple hundred people and probably 30 or so fires up and down the beach in a place that is usually quite desolate in the winter. I loved the pagan feel as folks gathered with their trees. Also, those trees burn up fast. It was a good reminder to keep those trees watered and away from a fire source when in your homes.