The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa will sparkle with millions of lights and decorations again this year but will not include the traditional switch-on ceremony due to concerns about the potential COVID-19 public health impacts associated with the Delta Variant. This year’s Festival of Lights will largely mirror the 2020 event, which was the first to be scaled back due to COVID-19.
Historically, the Festival of Lights has kicked off with the switch-on ceremony, complete with a countdown and fireworks display that attracted 75,000 people to Downtown Riverside the Friday after Thanksgiving. Once the lights are switched on, they are a nightly attraction at the Mission Inn, drawing thousands of visitors to Riverside throughout the holiday season.
“A generation of Riversiders has grown up with the Festival of Lights as a much-loved tradition,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said. “We greatly appreciate our partners at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa for their years of investment in this tradition, and we eagerly await the return of the switch-on ceremony in 2022. Until then, this 2021 season will still provide many of the signature lights and decorations that have come to attract locals and visitors alike.”
The Festival of Lights will continue to feature the traditional lights and decorations at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, as well as city-sponsored holiday décor in the surrounding areas, including holiday-themed selfie stations, holiday trees, large ornaments, a sleigh, bows and garland on lights and bridges, and an assortment of holiday light displays. However, because of the restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, many traditional features, including live entertainment, attractions, food vendors, and horse-drawn carriages, had to be canceled.
“We are hopeful that the 30th anniversary next year will be a time when we can return to the Festival as we knew it prior to COVID-19.” Mayor Pro Tem Gaby Plascencia said.
