festival

GMA does FOL

Last Friday, weatherman Sam Champion of ABC-TV’s Good Morning America paid a visit to downtown Riverside for a special broadcast highlighting the Mission Inn’s “Festival of Lights.” The live broadcast was part of GMA’s weeklong, “Light up the Holidays” special, wherein 5 different holiday displays from across the U.S. were featured during the program’s weather…

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…

2002 - Festival of Lights - Mission Inn (RXSQ)

Riverside embraces the ‘Lights’

Now that the Orange Blossom Festival is officially kaput, officials in Riverside are eyeing an enlarged Festival of Lights as a quasi-replacement for the annual citrus celebration. Already a great success in its own right, the annual FOL draws tens of thousands of visitors from throughout Southern California during the winter holidays. The centerpiece of…

2004 - Orange Blossom Festival in downtown Riverside (RXSQ)

Riverside’s 12th annual Orange Blossom Festival

This weekend, May 20-21, marks the staging of the 12th annual Orange Blossom Festival in downtown Riverside. Although the festival has acquired a few bumps and bruises recently, it remains one of the largest and most successful yearly community festivals within Inland Southern California, typically drawing crowds in excess of 250,000. The OBF began in…

2004 - March Field AirFest (RXSQ)

March Field AirFest 2006

This weekend marks the return of the USAF Thunderbirds to March Air Reserve Base near Riverside. The precision flying team has been making regular stops at the base’s air shows for many years, the last being 2004. Long-considered one of the West Coast’s biggest air shows, this year’s aviation pageant is expected to draw about…

2002 - Festival of Lights - Mission Inn (RXSQ)

Festival of Lights

It’s that time of year again when downtown Riverside’s historic Mission Inn is aglow with millions of holiday lights and hundreds of animated figures. Each year, the crowds get a little bit bigger and the lights a little bit brighter as visitors stroll the downtown pedestrian mall, the tiny shops and boutiques, and streets surrounding…

Riverside’s Orange Blossom Festival

This weekend, Riverside — and Inland Southern California in general — celebrates its heralded citrus heritage with the annual “Orange Blossom Festival.” You can thank Eliza Tibbets for the 11th Orange Blossom Festival that will transform 30 square blocks of downtown Riverside this weekend into a happenin’ place. Organizers expect more than 200,000 visitors. Riverside Press-Enterprise –…

‘Festival of Lights’

A bit late on posting this, but over 20,000 turned out last Friday to the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside for the 11th annual ‘Festival of Lights’ lighting ceremony. The Inland area offered a bright welcome to the holiday season Friday evening as the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside shot off fireworks from its roof, then was lit…