Hundreds gathered in front of the Riverside County Historic Courthouse on Monday evening, Dec. 15, to listen to live music, eat custard donuts, witness the lighting of a large menorah and celebrate the second night of Hanukkah.
The Chanukah Festival, hosted by the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Riverside, also had a fire show, a stilt walker, cookie decorating and more activities.
“We are so happy and so thrilled to celebrate,” Rabbi Shmuel Fuss, executive director of Chabad Jewish Community Center, said in an interview at the event. “We are not afraid. We are not going to cower at hatred … We are not going to let the darkness win. We are going to bring the light.”
Main Street was blocked off for the event, with police monitoring. Riverside County leaders and city officials attended the festival, including members of the Riverside City Council, Supervisor Karen Spiegel, District Attorney Mike Hestrin and more.
Many attendees had blue holiday sweaters, some wore kippots and children posed for photos with a dreidel mascot. A robot for taking selfies with rolled around the area and a small gift shop offered souvenirs.
“It’s just so fun and there’s so many nice people,” Linda Jenkins, a first-time attendee of the festival, said. “It’s just so welcoming — no matter what walk of life you come from.”
The gathering came days after recent local and global attacks targeting the Jewish community.
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A group of “Chabad Bochurim” dance during the 21st annual Chanukah Festival on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in downtown. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
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A group of “Chabad Bochurim” dance during the 21st annual Chanukah Festival on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse in downtown. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Jews mourned after the Sunday, Dec. 14, mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, that killed 15 people. Closer to home, a drive-by attack at a Hanukkah-decorated home in Redlands on Friday, Dec. 12, is under investigation as a possible hate crime. No one was injured in the Redlands incident.
Despite these events, local Jewish leaders said Monday the spirit of Hanukkah — the Jewish holiday known as the “festival of lights” — endures.
“Obviously, we have been through a lot,” Mendy Dukes, from Long Island, New York, and a follower of Orthodox Judaism, said Monday. “And the world seems to be at its darkest point — so we all have to do our part to make the world a brighter place.”
RELATED: Inland Empire Hanukkah events continue, despite local and global violence
Typically celebrated between late November and late December, Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabees’ victory over the Syrians and their rededication of a holy Jerusalem temple. Public ceremonies such as the candle lighting in Riverside are held worldwide to honor the Maccabees’ finding of oil in the temple that kept the menorah candle burning for eight days.
In the Inland Empire, public celebrations for Hanukkah were held Sunday in Temecula and Monday in Rancho Cucamonga. Additional events are planned Tuesday in Menifee and Saturday in Redlands.
U.S. Jewish groups urged all Jewish organizations to strengthen security measures at public events following the Sydney attack. Locally, law enforcement officials say they’ve stepped up patrols in response to the shooting.
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