Boston celebrated two decidedly American holidays this evening—Christmas and Independence Day—by simultaneously lighting an enormous spruce tree and blasting choreographed fireworks into the night sky.

The display was all part of the city’s 68^th annual Christmas tree lighting, a festive night of green and red lights and ubiquitous carols. Emceed by MAGIC 106.7’s Nancy Quill and Mike Addams and punctuated by performances from local dance troupes and R&B star Bryan McKnight, the festivities spanned two full hours of forced holiday cheer before culminating with the traditional tree lighting. When the tree—a 46 foot spruce given to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Shatford of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia—sprang to light, so too did trees all across the Common, their branches draped with webs of tiny bulbs.

For the 38^th year, the Canadian province donated the Christmas conifer to the city as thanks for Boston’s rapid relief efforts following the 1917 explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax Harbor that killed nearly 2,000 people. This was also the eighth year that delegates from Nova Scotia have participated in the event. Mounties stoically flanked Frank Corbett, the premiere of Nova Scotia, as he gratefully recounted the story of Boston’s quick aid.

Then, as if seeking a retributive favor, Corbett invited attendees to visit Nova Scotia, an offer that dropped flat like a tactless sales pitch; a banner for one of the event’s sponsors, NovaScotiaLife.com, loomed over the stage, imploring the audience to “come to life,” as if this were a unique experience, not to be missed, that only Nova Scotia could provide. Then again, the holiday season is a time for overt commercialism, and the Canadian counterpart’s pandering was, in that sense, fitting.

Entertainment on the night was provided by an enormous camera affixed to a pendulous crane which swooped and glided above the first few rows of the crowd. Brian McKnight was there too, somewhere behind the crane, signing a rendition of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” while presumably dancing. Also, to one side of the stage, a woman signed along with the words, though her gesticulations weren’t comparably soulful to McKnight’s warbling.

Three dancers from the Boston Arts Academy Dance Troupe, dressed in shimmering, gold harem-style pants eerily reminiscent of MC Hammer’s, performed a brief selection from “The Nutcracker,” bounding around stage with high leaps and snappy spins. The Huntington Theatre Company followed with peppy steps to classic holiday music; decked out in festive sweaters, they jived—jazz hands and all—like a seasonal Old Navy commercial.

Rudolph, the erstwhile loner reindeer turned holiday sensation, was also on hand to dance a number near the end of the night. However, many event-goers soon grew incredulous that the reindeer on stage was, in fact, real; he perched on his hind legs for the duration of the song, while his front legs ended not in hooves but mittens. Furthermore, had this reindeer been, like Rudolph, magical, he should have had far better dance moves than the languorous shuffle/wave combo this ‘reindeer’ relied on for most of the song.

Mayor Menino, who had been scheduled to flip the switch and light the tree as per tradition, was not present; Menino is recovering from a severe knee injury he suffered Nov. 8 while climbing a flight of stairs at his son’s house.

Instead, Santa Claus—a character as suspect as the Rudolph who preceded him—helped light the tree in Menino’s stead.