Events and Festivals for Riverside
There are many festivals that happen during the year within Riverside, and most are focused on downtown.
Every year there is the Riverside Dickens Festival which is held in February which is used to enhance the feeling of community of Riverside County and those in Southern California by creating many literary events and to provide family oriented and educational literary entertainment as well as activities like street bazaar with costumed characters, vendors, and free entertainment, exhibits, classroom study, lectures, workshops, living history presentations, pageants, musical performances and plays.
Then there is the Riverside Airshow at the Riverside Municipal Airport which is held in March. This event has about 70,000 people and has over 200 acres of aircraft displays, community group exhibits, helicopter displays, food and drinks, children’s activities, military vehicle display and a car show.
There is an event called March Field Airfest and it is also called Thunder over the empire and it is an airshow that is held at the March Air Reserve Base. The air show is a huge event for the Inland Empire as well as Riverside County. The show has performers from the USAF Thunderbirds, Air Combat Command demonstrations and other military demonstrations.
During April there is the Riverside International Film Festival and it shows films from all over the world. It is sponsored by many businesses, the city of Riverside, and local universities and the past festivals have had over 175 films shown.
Then during October there is the Ghost Walk which is sponsored by California Riverside Ballet. This event is a great adventure through some of the most historic and oldest buildings in Riverside while volunteers lead tours and tell stories about ghosts and ghouls.
Also, during October there is the Long Night of Arts and Innovation for just one evening in downtown Riverside. This is a signature event and it is used to show off the best talent for performing and visual arts, technology and science from various community colleges, innovative companies, art organizations, universities and school districts by connecting them to performers, professionals, artists and professors in these institutions.
Then there is the Festival of Lights for Riverside which is centered around Mission Inn Hotel & Spa which is found in downtown Riverside. The decoration for the Inn will start in October and the day after Thanksgiving is the lighting ceremony that includes live musicians, speakers and fireworks. The Inn puts up more than 3 million lights and hundreds of animated characters. Horse drawn carriage rides, carolers, and ice skating are what make up the festival. Then community groups, cafes, and restaurants help contribute to the festival that lasts until New Years Day.
Then during this time, there is also the Festival of Trees and it is used to raise money for the medical center children’s unit which includes the pediatric intensive care unit, Neonatal intensive car unit, and neglect and child abuse unit. It attracts around 30,000 people each year and has raised over $5 million.
For more information, check out: http://www.riversideca.gov/.