Jefferson City’s Big Holiday Party Weekend

This coming weekend is Jefferson City’s big holiday party; here’s the schedule. And everything I’m listing is family-friendly and free: Free, free, free!

Thursday, Dec. 1 (6 pm)—the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, at Rotary Park at the far north end of Bolivar Street. An annual event with entertainment, refreshments, and a visit from Santa Claus. This is a truly fun event; there’s no postmodern-anything to it, no cynicism, no advertisements, nothing but an old-fashioned, friendly, community holiday gathering. With cookies, popcorn, and hot cocoa!




Friday, Dec. 2 (6-9 pm)—Living Windows in downtown Jefferson City. They’ve been doing this wholesome event for nearly 20 years (nyah, nyah, Columbia): there are hayrides, dancers, carolers, refreshments, and much more. More than 50 groups will be participating; Santa will be at the Hawthorn Bank.




Friday, Dec. 2 (6:30-9:00 pm) and Saturday, Dec. 3 (2-4 pm)—Candlelight Tours of the Missouri Governor’s Mansion. If you have never been inside the lovely, historic public building, this is a great time to see it—at night, and all decked out for Christmas. The Governor and First Lady personally greet everyone who comes in, and high school choirs sing near the grand staircase.




Saturday, Dec. 3 (4:30 pm)—Jefferson City Christmas Parade (downtown). Holiday-themed floats, bands playing Christmas songs, and all that stuff. Ten bucks says you’ll get a free candy cane if you put your hand out! (After the parade, you might patronize one of Jeff City’s coffee shops or restaurants.)

Monday, Dec. 5 (6:30-8:00 pm) A Home for the Holidays: Jefferson City Sings for Safe Housing (at the Miller Performing Arts Center, 501 Madison St.). Local choirs sing carols as a benefit for Habitat for Humanity (which does good work here in Jefferson City). Free—but, um, since it’s a benefit, they’d love it if you donated some cash; so don’t think of it as “paying”—this is the season for giving.

Jeff City’s Annual Christmassy Weekend

There’s lots of Christmas partying this weekend in the capital city!




It started tonight with the official lighting of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, which is on the north end of Bolivar Street overlooking the river. Free cookies, hot cider, and hot chocolate! Hot popcorn, too! The Helias High School choir sang, the regional head of the Rotary club spoke, and Mayor Landwehr gave a little speech, too, emphasizing the importance of the river to Jefferson City. And then the tree was lit up! Hooray!

There are more festivities, too. And they’re all free. Here’s the schedule.

Living Windows is tomorrow (Friday) night, 6:00–9:00 p.m. Downtown Jeff City is all duded up, and kids put on little vignettes or sing in the shop windows. More goodies are available. Stroll around and enjoy the wholesomeness of it all.

Candlelight tours of the Governor’s Mansion are also tomorrow night, 6:30–9:00 p.m. If you have never been in our state’s lovely Governor’s Mansion, this is a fabulous time to see it. The Christmas decorations are lovely and everyone’s in a jolly mood. A high school choir sings carols on the grand staircase, and docents are dressed in nineteenth-century costumes. And the governor and first lady are there to greet you personally. It’s really a pleasant thing to do.

To see pictures from last year’s Candlelight tours, click here.

Christkindelfest is on Saturday, Dec. 4, 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. The kaffeeklatch and bake sale is 9:30 – 11:00; the worship service, which includes the spirited singing of Esther Seidel and a rare and unusual German mass by “Silent Night” composer Franz Gruber, starts at 11:00; after the service (around noon) is a yummy lunch of Burger’s ham and other dishes; and at 1:00 p.m. Rev. Buchholz will lead a tour of the church.

For more information, see my earlier post about Christkindelfest.

The Jefferson City Christmas Parade is also on Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. It used to take place in the early afternoon, but they moved it to the evening so that the lights on all the floats would be prettier. And they are pretty!

To see pictures of some pictures from last year’s festivities, click here.

Governor’s Mansion Candlelight Tours

Today I’m showing you more images from last weekend, specifically the Candlelight Tours at the Missouri Governor’s Mansion. I’ve been to these in the past, and it’s really fun.




The basic deal is, you get in a line, hopefully don’t freeze to death while you wait, walk up the front steps to the portico, pass between massive, polished pink granite Corinthian columns, and then, once inside, you process through the ornately decorated first floor of the mansion. It’s been beautifully restored to 1870s splendor.




There are indeed some real, actual candles lit. Bless their hearts.




The governor and first lady are traditionally there, in the back half of the double parlor, and they cordially greet every single visitor, shaking hands of grown-ups and crouching down to say hello to the little ones.




Mansion docents are in each room, wearing Victorian dresses and such, to answer your questions about the history, architecture, and furnishings.

A choir carols on the magnificent grand staircase, and a Christmas tree stands within its curving, black walnut lines.




With all the visitors milling about, the guards and other staff are there in numbers, dressed in nice suits, smiling, and handing out little candy canes. It’s just a pleasant evening—at least for us visitors.




I’ll bet it’s grueling for the first family and their staff! Still, it’s a wonderful tradition, and an excellent opportunity for us little people to see this lovely building, which actually belongs to all of us.




If you missed it this year, put it on your calendar for next December. The Friday of the first weekend. You’ll be glad you went.

P.S. This post is dedicated to Ann Liberman, whose love and enthusiasm for the Missouri Governor's Mansion is contagious . . . and impressive.