November 2006 Archives

This Friday marks the debut of an expanded Festival of Lights in downtown Riverside.

Along with the usual carolers, carriage rides, one-of-a-kind shopping/dining and millions of holiday lights, this year's FOL has grown to include a compact ice rink. Skating at the rink, located on the Main Street Pedestrian Mall between Mission Inn and University avenues, will cost $10 per hour with skate rentals running $3.

2006
Mission Inn

Of course, the centerpiece of the FOL is the Mission Inn Hotel itself, decorated to the hilt with millions of lights and several hundred animated figures (the assortment of holiday decorations grows each year).

The event is scheduled to kickoff with the "switch-on" ceremony at 6:15 p.m., Friday, Nov. 24.

Parking is free on weekends and holidays and after 5 p.m. weekdays, including within the 4 city-owned parking garages (we suggest using the Orange Square garage located at Ninth and Orange streets).

Reservations are recommended for the various horse-drawn carriages as well as dinner at any of the Mission Inn restaurants, Mario's Place or Cafe Sevilla -- particularly on weekends and days in and around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. And if you're planning an overnight stay, advanced reservations are highly recommended for either the Mission Inn or Marriott hotels.

Related

• Mission Inn
• Mission Inn - Festival of Lights
• Riverside Downtown Partnership

Previous

• RaincrossSquare.com - Riverside embraces the 'Lights'

Update

• Los Angeles Times - Riverside adds ice to its Festival of Lights
• Photo Gallery: 2006 Festival of Lights

Saturday, November 18, 2006 - The weekend heading into Thanksgiving finds downtown Riverside in a state of transformation as finishing touches are being made to holiday decorations ahead of the annual Festival of Lights, which officially begins the Friday after turkey day.

Flash: Out & About slideshow

This year, a new addition to an expanded FOL had workers assembling a compact ice rink. Slated to open in time for next weekend's FOL kickoff ceremony, the rink is situated on the Main Street Pedestrian Mall between Mission Inn and University avenues.

Oh, and during our stroll around downtown we noticed that the long-awaited Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is now open at the base of the California Tower. CB&TL joins fellow coffee purveyor Starbucks in joining the downtown mix.

In other news, the Mission Inn Coffee Co. has been officially replaced by Bella Trattoria Italian Bistro. Also, the small band stage outside City Hall is no more (likely in preparation for the eventual re-opening of Ninth Street thru the pedestrian mall). And the massive rebuilding of the 60/91/I-215 freeways interchange continues to move along.