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Governor’s Mansion to Host Christmas Festivities

The governor's mansion in Jefferson City.
Missouri Division of Tourism
The governor's mansion in Jefferson City.

The annual Christmas at the Governor’s Mansion celebrations will take place this weekend in Jefferson City.  Outside of scheduled tours, the event is one of only two times every year that the public is welcomed onto the mansion’s grounds. 

Spokesperson Scott Holste said this weekend’s free events will include the ceremonial lighting of the mansion’s outdoor Christmas tree.

“We’re going to incorporate a lot of the same traditions that have occurred in past years,” Holste said.  “There will actually be a countdown before the lighting of the Christmas tree and it can be a pretty impressive moment when the governor throws the switch and the tree on the mansion grounds is lit up.”

The events will also include candlelight tours of the mansion, as well as music performed by school choirs from around mid-Missouri.

“The first floor is the area that is open to the public during this time,” Holste said.  “When you come up the steps of the mansion, the first thing that you enter is what’s called the great hall.  It’s a large room with a massive fireplace in it.”

Holste said tour guides will provide historical context about the furnishings in some of the mansion’s older rooms.  The ceremonial Christmas tree lighting will start Friday night at 6:00 p.m.  The candlelight tours will be held Friday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday afternoon from 2 p.m. through 4 p.m.

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