What's on around Riverside-San Bernardino

Palm Springs runs its Pride parade down Palm Canyon Drive on Sunday the 8th, and thirteen days later the Mission Inn throws the switch on its holiday lights in downtown Riverside. The holiday season here starts on Saturday, November 21, with the Mission Inn's free switch-on ceremony and fireworks, in the 34th year of the Festival of Lights. Before that comes an election, a Pride weekend and a veterans art exhibition, with hockey at both ends of the metro all month.

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in California through C2 Financial Corporation, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I work out of Bluffton, South Carolina, so nothing here is a first-hand claim. Every date below comes from the organizer, the venue, the city that runs it or the visitor bureau, as each one has published it for 2026. Anything I could only find on a previous year's listing was left out. I checked all of it on October 21, 2026. If you are looking at homes anywhere from Ontario out to the Coachella Valley this fall, the Inland Empire buyer's guide covers both counties, the special tax districts and the fire zones.

Tuesday the 3rd is election day

Election day is Tuesday, November 3, and it is a governor's race with a long list of statewide propositions under it. County officials began mailing ballots on or before October 5, according to the state's own voter guide. The Secretary of State's list of qualified measures is where the numbered propositions live, and the state's quick guide puts each one in a paragraph.

Several of those measures are about taxes, including a housing bond and separate questions on state and local taxing power. I am not taking a position on any of them. Your own tax bill here is set by more than the state. A school bond, a county assessment and a Mello-Roos district all land on the same statement, and two homes a mile apart can carry very different ones. Mello-Roos is an extra yearly charge that pays off the bonds a developer borrowed to put in the streets, sewers and schools for a newer tract, and it is on some addresses here and not others. The California Mello-Roos notice you get before you buy covers how you find out which.

If you buy in California this month, a second tax bill follows the first one. The county resets the assessment to what you paid and then bills you the difference, and the California supplemental property tax bill walks through it. How escrow accounts work covers why your lender's first-year estimate may not cover that one.

Palm Springs Pride takes the first weekend

Greater Palm Springs Pride runs Friday, November 6 through Sunday, November 8 in downtown Palm Springs, which is in Riverside County. Visit Palm Springs lists the weekend with the Arenas District kickoff on the Friday and the festival across open-air venues on the Saturday and Sunday.

The parade is Sunday the 8th. The City of Palm Springs announced this year's theme and says the procession carries more than 225 entries, stepping off in Uptown and running south on Palm Canyon Drive to Amado Road. The start time differs between the city's page and the organizer's own schedule, so the organizer's page is the one to check the morning of. Downtown streets close along that route.

Veterans Day, and the veterans art exhibition

Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, November 11. The Riverside Arts Council hangs its veterans art exhibition from November 2 through November 11, with an opening reception on the 2nd and an artist reception on Veterans Day itself from noon to 4 p.m. The council's own page for it lists both receptions.

Riverside's veterans parade is a question mark this year, and the section below called "Events I could not confirm for this year" says why.

If you served, your benefit works the same across both counties here, and the loan limits move with the county. VA loans in California covers how the program works across the state, including what happens when you are buying above the county limit.

Art in the Gardens on the 7th

The UCR Botanic Gardens hold Art in the Gardens on Saturday, November 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the City of Riverside's community calendar lists it. You'll want to look up the campus parking before you drive up, because the gardens are at the east end of campus.

The Mission Inn throws the switch on the 21st

The switch-on ceremony is Saturday, November 21 at 5 p.m. at Orange Street and Mission Inn Avenue, with fireworks after it and Santa on the hotel's steps. The city's Festival of Lights page asks everyone to be there by 4:30, and the ceremony is free to watch from the street. The hotel puts this at the 34th year and runs the lights nightly to January 3.

The downtown season around it opens the following Friday, November 27, and runs to December 27 with programming the Riverside Arts Council curates, which the council lists on its own festival page. The city's page is also where the parking arrangements for the ceremony evening go up each season.

Temecula lights up over Thanksgiving weekend

Temecula runs its holiday season as a month the visitor bureau calls Temecula Chilled, and the Miracle pop-up bar in Old Town opens it on November 20. Visit Temecula Valley's page for the season carries the whole run.

Santa arrives at Pennypickle's Workshop on Friday, November 27 from 6 to 9 p.m., and the Duck Pond tree lighting is Monday, November 30 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with music, hot chocolate and Santa. Both dates come from the city's holiday page. The city's printed leisure guide gives each one a day later, November 28 and December 1, so the online page is the one I would trust and the city can settle it by phone.

Out in the wine country, Visit Temecula Valley's holiday listings put the Callaway barrel tree lighting and holiday market on November 27 and 28, and an Oak Mountain Winery tree lighting on the 28th. Santa's Electric Light Parade through Old Town is December 4, just past this post.

Two American Hockey League teams, and one night they play each other

This metro has two American Hockey League teams, one at each end of it, and they meet in Ontario on November 21.

The Ontario Reign are home six times at Toyota Arena. San Jose comes in on Wednesday the 4th at 7 p.m., Abbotsford on Saturday the 14th at 6 p.m., and Colorado on Sunday the 15th at 6 p.m. Then Abbotsford again on Wednesday the 18th at 7 p.m., the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Saturday the 21st at 6 p.m., and Henderson on Sunday the 22nd at 3 p.m. Those times come from the league's schedule release.

The Firebirds play three home games I could confirm, at Acrisure Arena out in Thousand Palms. Abbotsford comes in on Sunday, November 15 at 3 p.m., Bakersfield on Friday the 27th at 7 p.m., and Henderson on Saturday the 28th at 6 p.m. The team's own schedule announcement shows those three. Two more early-November home dates show up on the arena and ticket listings with the days disagreeing, so I left them out rather than print a night that moves.

The farmers market runs on Saturdays

The downtown Riverside market runs every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., which the city's own arts and culture page gives as its hours, so November gives you the 7th, the 14th, the 21st and the 28th. Visit Riverside's guide to the city's markets lists it along with three others and says it runs rain or shine. Neither page says whether it breaks for any part of the winter.

The address is worth checking before you drive down, because the two city sources disagree on it. Visit Riverside's guide puts the market on Main Street between 10th and 12th from March 7 onward, and the city's own pages and the Downtown Partnership listings still give Main Street between 5th and 6th.

Events I could not confirm for this year

Three things that belong on a November list around here are not in the dated list above, because the dates I could find disagree with each other.

Riverside's veterans parade is listed twice, on two different days. The city's own community calendar carries a Salute to Veterans Parade and Expo on November 7 and a Veterans Parade and Patriotic Concert on November 19. Both are free, both run the same Market Street, 10th Street and Main Street route, and both are listed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. One of those is probably last year's listing left up. I would call the city before planning a morning around either.

Riverside Artswalk has no posted November date. It runs on first Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. in downtown Riverside, which would put it on November 5, and the only dated listing I could find was from an earlier year. The Arts Council's reception for the veterans exhibition is on November 2, which does not line up with a first Thursday, so I am not going to guess which night the walk is.

Two Coachella Valley Firebirds home games in early November are listed on different days by the arena and by the ticket sellers, as above.

Three changes around the Inland Empire this year

Brightline West is digging along the I-15, and the finish date moved to 2029. The high-speed line from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, with Inland Empire stops at Apple Valley and Hesperia as well, is in its groundwork year: crews are moving utility lines, drilling test holes and building bridges along the corridor. Fox 5 reported in January that completion slipped to late 2029 after an earlier hope of being ready for the 2028 Olympics. If you are looking at homes near Cucamonga Station, the station site is public, and nobody can tell you yet when a train will run from it. A home there has to work for the commute you have now.

The I-15 express lanes are being extended south, and the contract was signed in May. The Riverside County Transportation Commission's project page describes about 15.8 miles of extension south toward Lake Elsinore. The commission finished its environmental review in December 2025 and hired the builder in May 2026. The drawings have to be finished before any of it gets built, so the drive down the 15 does not change for a while yet.

On the San Bernardino County side, I-15 work runs to 2028. San Bernardino County Transportation Authority's corridor page has the freight and express lanes going eight miles from Cantu-Galleano Ranch Road to Foothill Boulevard, with construction continuing through 2028.

Two of those three change what a daily drive looks like from a given address, which is worth a weekday test run before you write an offer. If a move here comes with a new job or a new business, getting pre-approved in California covers what gets reviewed first, and self-employed mortgages in California covers the tax-return side of it.

Common questions

When is the Mission Inn Festival of Lights switch-on in 2026?

Saturday, November 21 at 5 p.m., at Orange Street and Mission Inn Avenue in downtown Riverside, with fireworks after the ceremony. The city asks everyone to arrive by 4:30, and watching from the street is free. The lights stay on nightly to January 3, and the downtown programming around them runs November 27 to December 27.

What is happening around the Inland Empire at Thanksgiving 2026?

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The weekend after it is the busy one. Santa arrives at Pennypickle's Workshop in Temecula on Friday the 27th, and the Callaway barrel tree lighting runs the 27th and 28th. Oak Mountain Winery lights its tree on the 28th, and the Firebirds are home at Acrisure Arena on both the 27th and the 28th. Temecula's Duck Pond tree lighting follows on Monday the 30th.

When is Palm Springs Pride in 2026?

November 6 through 8, in downtown Palm Springs, with the parade on Sunday the 8th running south on Palm Canyon Drive from Uptown to Amado Road. The city says the parade carries more than 225 entries. Start times differ between the city's page and the organizer's schedule, so the organizer's page is the one to read that morning.

When is the Riverside downtown farmers market?

Every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., which gives you November 7, 14, 21 and 28. Check the block before you go: Visit Riverside's guide puts it on Main Street between 10th and 12th, and the city's own pages still say between 5th and 6th.

How far apart are these events in the Inland Empire?

Far enough apart that you would not try to do two of them in an evening. Palm Springs and Thousand Palms are out in the Coachella Valley, Temecula is in the south of Riverside County, and Ontario is up in San Bernardino County. This metro is two counties and it runs from the Los Angeles county line out past the Salton Sea, so an address near one event can be an hour and a half from another. The Inland Empire buyer's guide walks through it region by region.

I am moving to the Inland Empire this winter. Where should I start?

You'll want to start with the full monthly cost on any address you like, rather than the price. A Mello-Roos district, an HOA and a county assessment can add real money on top of the base tax, and two homes on the same street can carry different ones. After that, the California page covers the statewide rules, including what Proposition 19 does to a tax base you inherit or carry with you. Then please give me a call and tell me which towns you are looking in, and I can tell you what your numbers look like in each of them.