The annual Orchard Road Christmas light-up was first organised by the Singapore Tourism Board in 1984.

It has been a yearly affair since.

Tens of thousands of man hours

The 2017 light-up is running from Nov. 11 to Jan. 1, 2018.

This year's decorations, with the Endless Wonder theme, spans 2.88km, running from Tanglin Mall to Plaza Singapura.

The Christmas decorations took about 76,800 man hours to make, not including the time spent to put them up.

An additional 15,120 man hours had to be spent to get Orchard Road ready for the Christmas season.

Changing quality of light-up

Over the years, a lot of effort has been put into making the light-up memorable.

But one of the most obvious ways the light-up has evolved is the changing colours of the lights from stinging tungsten yellow to a more agreeable and cooler bluish-whitish hue these days.

Here's a look at how it has evolved:

The lights back in 1984 looked quite different to the ones we were used to seeing today:

In fact, for most of the 1980s, the lights were yellow, because technology.

1986:

1988:

1990:

In the late 90s, blue-themed lights and decorations started appearing.

1998:

1999:

And at the turn of the millennium, the decorations became more interesting.

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2002:

2003:

In more recent years, the decorations have evolved into sophisticated embellishments for the shopping district.

2009:

2010:

2012:

2014:

2015:

2016:

2017:

With more initiatives being implemented to make Orchard Road livelier during the Christmas season, such as pop-up markets in Somerset, the light-up will continue as a complement to the festivities or simply to continue the three-decade-old tradition.

Or as long as tourists still show up to see it for themselves.