ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester tradition returns on Friday night. The Genesee Brewery will light its tree made of 650 empty beer kegs and wrapped in 25,000 twinkling lights.

News10NBC TODAY spoke live with the keg tree’s creator, Mike Gaesser, who will step away after 10 years of designing the tree. Gaesser said the CEO of Genesee Brewery had the idea of creating a keg tree and Gaesser volunteered to help.

“He just asked us if we are interested in putting up a tree out of kegs. He goes, can you do that? …We said sure, we can do that,” he said.

Gaesser said the keg tree will continue without him. The tree is taller and has a wider base compared to last year. People have worked on the 29-foot-tall keg tree since September and added 3,000 more lights compared to last year. Altogether, it took about 25 people to put the tree together.

The countdown to the lighting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Brew House on 25 Cataract St. The free celebration featuring holiday music, food trucks, and Genesee beer runs from 5 to 9 p.m.

The brewery’s signature Keg Tree Ale, a cinnamon version of the Genesee Cream Ale, will be available at the celebration. So will the Genesee 12-Horse Ale. Parking is available at the High Falls Garage.