“It’s TIIIMMMMMEEEE.” – Mariah Carey

Thanksgiving has come to a close and the winter holidays are in full swing at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in downtown Riverside.

The hotel kicked off the 33rd year of its Festival of Lights the weekend before Thanksgiving with musical performances and a ceremony to honor hotel owner Duane Roberts, who died earlier this month at the age of 88.

Here are three new things to check out before the lights go off Jan. 6:

Giant gingerbread house

After touring the lights outside the Mission Inn, step inside and check out the playhouse-sized gingerbread house in the hotel lobby.

Made with 1,500 pieces of gingerbread, iced and covered in 85 pounds of candy, the 10-foot homemade house even has a sitting room nestled inside.

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A 10-by-8 foot gingerbread house, made with 1,500 real gingerbread pieces and 85 pounds of candy, is at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa lobby on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)

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Lights & Delights tour

Learn more about the history of the festival that started in 1993, the hotel, and the works of art collected by founder Frank Augustus Miller on this seasonal tour.

The tour starts in the hotel’s catacombs, which reopened in 2024, then winds its way through the four wings of the hotel and into the ornate chapels to share holiday stories of days gone by — from where Miller stored his Nativity scene in the subterranean tunnels to the site of the first wedding in the St. Cecelia Chapel held on Christmas.

Tours are 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday and last 75 minutes. After the tour, guests over 21 are given a complimentary cocktail from the hotel’s new festive drink menu, the 12 Days of Cocktails.

Cost is $35 for children; $65 for adults. To learn more click here.


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