This is truly the most wonderful time of the year. There are so many things to see and do all over Southern California. Many of these events are free to attend and I love being able to share those places with you.
One of my favorite free events is The Mission Inn and Spa in Riverside is home to the Festival of Lights. More than 3.6 million (Yes Million!) lights transform this beautiful hotel into a holiday wonderland. The festival features nightly live entertainment, “fresh snow”, and even appearances by Santa and his reindeer. You can even ride around a horse drawn carriage around the hotel grounds.
The City of Riverside has adopted The Mission Inn’s Festival of Lights as a citywide initiative with a vision of a Dickensian holiday spectacle featuring lights and decorations throughout downtown Riverside, an outdoor ice-skating rink on the Main Street pedestrian mall, holiday vendors and family-friendly entertainment.
The Festival of Lights at The Mission Inn Hotel is now open and continues until January 6th, 2015. The Festival of Lights begins every night at sunset. For additional information head here.
What a beautiful place. Would love to take my kids there. They would absolutely love it.
Do you have any tips for visiting and avoiding the crazy lines off the freeway? So we’re going Sat. for the first time, and I hate crowds and lines and have seen how crazy the offramp off the freeway gets to the Mission during this time of year. Any tips? Like realistically should I get there at 2pm, and just kill some time until it gets dark? Or is it still crazy busy at 2pm on weekends? Is there parking at the hotel? Any tips from your experience would be greatly appreciated =)
Love the Mission! We will be heading out this weekend since last weekend was ridiculous! Thanks for the info!