The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa lit up the sky Saturday night, Nov. 22, as the Festival of Lights started its 33rd year.

This year’s switch-on ceremony was dedicated to Duane Roberts, co-owner of the hotel who died earlier this month just before his 89th birthday . Roberts would typically attend the ceremony.

RELATED: Duane Roberts, co-owner of the Mission Inn in Riverside, dies at 88

It marks the third time the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa Festival of Lights has begun the weekend before Thanksgiving. For decades, it launched the day after Thanksgiving .

The ceremony, in which more than 10 million lights adorning the inn suddenty turn on with the flick of a switch, wowed a crowd gathered outside the historic downtown hotel. In addition to the festival, guests were treated to a free

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