Photo by Brian Allen.

There are still 73 days to go before Christmas, but you can temporarily get in the competitive seasonal spirit on Friday.

The lottery for tickets to the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony opens at 10 a.m. on Friday and closes at 10 a.m. on Monday. The annual event will be held this year on December 3 at 5 p.m. As usual, it will take part on the Ellipse at President’s Park.

Here is a 58-minute video of last year’s event (the one-second actual illumination comes at 7:07.)

Resume thinking about more seasonally appropriate holidays now.