Festival of Lights

This Friday marks the debut of an expanded Festival of Lights in downtown Riverside.

Along with the usual carolers, carriage rides, one-of-a-kind shopping/dining and millions of holiday lights, this year’s FOL has grown to include a compact ice rink. Skating at the rink, located on the Main Street Pedestrian Mall between Mission Inn and University avenues, will cost $10 per hour with skate rentals running $3.

Of course, the centerpiece of the FOL is the Mission Inn Hotel itself, decorated to the hilt with millions of lights and several hundred animated figures (the assortment of holiday decorations grows each year).

The event is scheduled to kickoff with the “switch-on” ceremony at 6:15 p.m., Friday, Nov. 24.

Parking is free on weekends and holidays and after 5 p.m. weekdays, including within the 4 city-owned parking garages (we suggest using the Orange Square garage located at Ninth and Orange streets).

Reservations are recommended for the various horse-drawn carriages as well as dinner at any of the Mission Inn restaurants, Mario’s Place or Cafe Sevilla — particularly on weekends and days in and around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. And if you’re planning an overnight stay, advanced reservations are highly recommended for either the Mission Inn or Marriott hotels.

Related

• Mission Inn
• Riverside/Mission Inn – Festival of Lights
• Riverside Downtown Partnership

Previous

• RaincrossSquare.com – Riverside embraces the ‘Lights’ (Sept. 2006)

2025 PAGE UPDATE: Updated/removed outdated links.