Christmas Tree Lighting Planned at Massachusetts Statehouse

The holiday season arrives on Beacon Hill next week with the annual Statehouse Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the front lawn of gold-domed building.

The festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and continue to 7 p.m. They include a holiday open house intended to showcase Massachusetts farmers, food producers, agricultural partners and the tourism industry.

There will be caroling and a visit from Santa Claus.

The Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund will also be on hand to encourage guests to create holiday greeting cards for servicemen and women stationed abroad.

Gov. Charlie Baker said one focus of the celebration will be the state's farms.

According the 2012 Agricultural Census, Massachusetts' 7,755 farms help to protect over 523,000 acres of open space and produce more than $492 million in agricultural products annually.