IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside’s annual holiday festival has a new start date.
This year’s switch-ceremony that will begin the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa Festival of Lights will start at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 18, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, according to a statement on the city’s website.
Traditionally, the event has been held the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Opening night will include a fireworks show and a live musical performance. The lights will be turned on every night through Jan. 7.
“The Festival of Lights is a Riverside tradition, and I look forward to getting started a few days earlier, which should also benefit our downtown merchants,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in the statement. “This will be a great opportunity for Riverside residents to bring their families downtown after kids get out of school for the Thanksgiving break.”
The festival, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is sponsored by Duane and Kelly Roberts, co-owners of The Mission Inn, and the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce. It typically attracts about 450,000 people during its end-of-the-year run, according to the statement.
