The Annual Lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree

The lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree is a Washington tradition that's been in existence since 1964.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting took place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday evening. Despite rain casting gloomy shadows over the Capitol dome, the 118-year-old Sierra White Fir lit up the dark night with Speaker of the House John Boehner's (R-Calif.) flick of the switch.

Boehner was assisted by seven-year-old Johnny Crawford of California, in keeping with the tradition of a child from the tree's state to help the Speaker light the tree.

The lighting had a few setbacks—once the tree was lit, the lights promptly went out. Later, the crowd was told it was likely water in a switch due to the heavy rain of the day. OccupyDC protesters also began chanting "We are the 99 percent!" when members of Congress gave remarks at the event.

However, most seemed in good spirits at the lighting, which included holiday songs by the Jazz@8 Choir from Summervlle High School in Tuolumne, California and appearances by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Dan Lungren (R-Calif.).

— report and photographs by Kate Oczypok