The Fifth Avenue Snowflake returns to the streets of New York. This year, the installation highlights St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, one of the world’s leading institutions for the research and treatment of life-threatening diseases in childhood. As a symbolic element of New York’s urban culture, the Snowflake draws attention to the hospital’s work and forms part of a shared initiative that supports its mission through targeted philanthropic efforts. Since its premiere in 2005, the Snowflake has marked the beginning of the holiday season at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and has become one of the most festive light installations in Manhattan’s public realm. With a diameter of seven meters and a weight of approximately 1,500 kilograms, it serves as a monumental anchor within the dense urban environment. Nearly 16,000 Baccarat crystal prisms refract the light of more than 400 LEDs, giving the structure a floating, almost immaterial presence. This interplay of technical precision, optical refinement and poetic effect is characteristic of the Ingo Maurer brand. This year’s presentation is made possible through the support of the Fifth Avenue Snowflake Foundation for Humanity, the Fifth Avenue Association and the Stonbely Family Foundation, longstanding patrons of this New York landmark.