Enjoying the Holidays at the Riverside Festival of Lights

The Festival of Lights is one of the biggest attractions in California’s Inland Empire. It happens once a year, from late November to early January (this year, the last night to see the lights will be January 6, 2019), and it brings families from all over Southern California to one street in downtown Riverside, to get together, enjoy the holidays, and see the beautiful decorations adorning the famous Mission Inn.

Photo by Halle Homel

Things to do:

There’s something to do at the festival for every member of the family! For the kids, there are carnival rides to stop at. For the whole family, stop and see some street performers: there are tons of people with their instruments playing Christmas music, and there was even a singing dog the night I went with my friends!

Of course, stop and see the lights! The Mission Inn has been transformed into Santa’s workshop, and there are beautiful decorations all over Main Street. In order to see the lights in the Mission Inn though, make sure you go during the week or early in the evening, unless you’re okay with waiting in line—this is a really popular event!

Where to eat:

Although there are food vendors throughout the festival, unfortunately none of them advertise having vegan options. That isn’t to say, though, that there’s nowhere to eat! My favorite café in Riverside is only about a block away from Main Street (where most of the festival is hosted). Back to the Grind is a wonderful and quirky café complete with a wall of books, good coffee, and plenty of vegan options! They even sell vegan pizza (and onlyvegan pizza—they don’t have a non vegan option for this), and some vegan pastries and baked goods.

Photo by Halle Homel

Activism:

If you’re a vegan looking to get more involved this holiday season, try going to the Festival of Lights on a Saturday! Direct Action Everywhere hosts video outreach events every week in front of the Coffee Bean to spread awareness of the cruelty happening on factory farms. The videos feature the cruel factory farm practices and contrast that with another video showing rescued animals living happily. You can work on your outreach skills by engaging with passersby who stop to inquire about the videos, or if you’re new to activism, you can simply hold a screen with the pre-downloaded videos or shadow somebody doing outreach.

The outreach event happens every Saturday night during the Festival of Lights from 6:30-9:30 pm.

Unfortunately, occasionally during these beautiful times of holiday celebration, we must remember that there still are victims. I’m of course talking about the animals—in particular, the horses pulling carriages at the Festival of Lights. While your presence at the event does not support this cruelty (you must pay a vendor for a ride and the event itself is free), it is still incredibly sad to see animals being exploited during a time that is supposed to represent joy, kindness, compassion, and giving. We encourage you to go up to these vendors and question this exploitation and the activists in the area are open to any ideas of how to prevent this cruelty from happening in future years.

The Festival of Lights is a great, family friendly event that happens every year in Riverside, California—about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. The lights year after year are absolutely gorgeous, and attending the event is a great way to get into the holiday spirit! Happy Holidays! And remember to make this time of year one of compassion for all beings.