Mission Inn Festival of Lights

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Mission Inn Festival of Lights

Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🎃 Seasonal · Riverside

2 hours · Free · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 3.0
1–3 yrs
★ 4.0
3–5 yrs
★ 4.0
5–10 yrs
★ 4.0
  • 🚗
    About 50 min drive
    From Arcadia · Parking: Downtown Riverside garages, expect to circle on holiday weekend nights, arrive before 5pm
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Little shade
    Good on cool days · Great on sunny days
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 2 hours
    Best seasons: Winter

From the day after Thanksgiving to early January, the century-old castle-like Mission Inn hotel in Riverside is draped in millions of lights and hundreds of animated holiday figures, with food stalls, a carousel and scheduled nightly fake snow on the surrounding pedestrian streets, all free.

💡 Tips
Opening night (the day after Thanksgiving) is a mob scene, so do not bring little ones then; December weekday evenings are the most pleasant. You can go into the hotel lobby to see the Christmas tree; food and rides cost extra.

What this place offers

✓free
✓light show
✓historic hotel
✓food stalls
✓carousel
✓fake snow
✓pedestrian streets

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This weekend's weather in Riverside

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

☀️
Sat 10/17
Sunny · 74–91°F · 0% rain
☀️
Sun 10/18
Sunny · 75–90°F · 0% rain

Location

Riverside, California

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