Photo by afagen.

Today is All Saints Day, which, according to the laws of American consumerism, means it’s time for everyone to start thinking about Christmas. (I know, it’s pretty gross.) As local stores start chucking out their Halloween treats for Christmas-related treats — man, Thanksgiving must be feeling left out — there is one holiday tradition that is worth suffering the holiday creep.

Later this week, the lottery for tickets to the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the Ellipse will open, giving residents a chance to be one of the thousands in attendance when President Obama and his family flip the switch. Tickets to the event are distributed via a lottery which goes online at 10 a.m. this Thursday, November 3 and will close on Monday, November 7th at 10 a.m. (Tickets are also now available for the National Menorah Lighting, which will take place on December 20 at 4 p.m.)

If you don’t get tickets to the lighting ceremony, you can always watch the event via the Internet — hopefully, the tree will stay upright for the entirety of the season this year.