IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside is planning to go ahead with its annual Festival of Lights later this year, but with some changes because of COVID-19.
The city council recently voted to spend $60,000 on this year’s festival, well below the $378,000 and $825,0000 it has spent in recent years, according to a statement on the city’s website.
“The Festival of Lights is a much-loved Riverside tradition,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said in the statement. “I look forward to a time when we can gather together again as a community to celebrate the holidays in this special way, but we have to make responsible decisions, even when they are difficult.”
Typically, the event at the downtown Mission Inn Hotel & Spa starts with a lighting ceremony and fireworks show the night after Thanksgiving that draws about 75,000 people. But state law prohibits large gatherings, and it’s not known whether that restriction will be lifted by the end of the year.
As of now, this year’s event -if it is held – will include some holiday decor around the hotel, including selfie stations, holiday trees and large ornaments. However there will be no lighting ceremony, programming, entertainment, attractions, vendors or horse carriages, according to the statement.
