Holiday Shows, Pageants and of course..."The Nutcracker"

 

Images courtesy of http://www.brava-arts.org/

Hi neighbor -

Have you been feeling the holiday spirit? It's almost unavoidable now that we're in our second week of December and especially with all the Christmas tree lightings, parades and other festivities that are happening. On top of the lightings and the parades the IE is bustling with holiday shows, pageants and theater productions - like everyone's Christmas favorite "The Nutcracker." We've compiled a list and want to share it with you. We hope you and your family make some time to check them out during this busy season.

If we've missed any, please give us a shout so we can share with all our neighbors. You know where... :) Facebook and Twitter.

Till next time...

Enjoy!

1. Mannheim Steamroller Holiday Concert (San Bernardino) – 12/7, Wednesday

2. "The Nutcracker" performed by California Riverside Ballet (Riverside) - 12/9-11, Fri-Sun. - New York City Ballet principals Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici will perform as Sugar Plum and Cavalier.

3. Mariachi Christmas (San Bernardino) – 12/10, Saturday

4. “The Nutcracker” by BRAVA (Riverside) – 12/17-18, Saturday-Sunday (Landis Performing Arts Center)

5. "The Nutcracker" performed by the Inland Pacific Ballet at Claremont's Bridges Auditorium and Rancho Cucamonga's Lewis Family Playhouse. Celebrating their 18th season! - Now through 12/18

6. Moreno Valley Wind Symphony Seasons Greetings! (Moreno Valley) – 12/8, Thursday

7. “A Christmas Carol” (Rancho Cucamonga) – 12/9-10, Fri-Sat

8. La Sierra University Big Band Concert (Riverside) – 12/10, Saturday – Oh and it's FREE!

9. “A Christmas Carol" (Temecula) – 12/7-10, Wed-Sat

10. “It’s a Wonderful Life — The Radio Drama” (Upland) – now through 12/16 at The Grove. You can get 50% off tickets at Goldstar.com

11. “A Christmas Show of a Lifetime” (Corona)– 12/16-18, Fri-Sun

12. Bob and Bing's Holiday Road Show (Rancho Cucamonga) - 12/18, Sunday, at the Lewis Family Playhouse

13. “A 1950’s Christmas at the Mansion” (Big Bear) – 12/18, Sunday

14. “Home for the Holidays” with Broadway stars Dale Kristien and Bill Hutton (Upland) – 12/18, Sunday. You can get 50% off tickets at Goldstar.com

15. “Holiday Follies 2011” (Fontana) – now through 12/30 – Fontana residents get 25% off the ticket price!

So many holiday parades, so little time...

*2010 Pomona Christmas Parade...to help us get into the holiday spirit*

Hi neighbor -

Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have gone by and you can't avoid the holiday spirit in the air. We have so many local holiday parades filled with Christmas lights, snow, Santa, some freebies and even tamales! A lot of the parades fall on Saturday, 12/3, but maybe if you plan it right you and your family can try to catch more than one. =D Regardless of where you are in the IE, be reassured that you'll get a chance to catch a Christmas parade somewhere.

We hope you enjoy our list below and if we've missed any parades in your neck of the woods please give us a shout in our comments, on our Facebook or tweet us. We'd love to hear.

Enjoy!

1. http://www.ci.claremont.ca.us/update.cfm?resID=247877 (Claremont) - Festivities start on 12/2, Friday and continue through Saturday.

2. Santa’s Electric Light Parade (Temecula) – 12/3, Saturday at 7 p.m.

3. 35th Annual Christmas Parade and Craft Faire (Upland) – 12/3, Saturday, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

4. Twelve Days of Christmas Parade and Christmas in the Park (Hemet) – 12/3, Saturday, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

5. 20th Annual Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade (Palm Springs) – 12/3, Saturday at 5:45 p.m.

6. Redlands Christmas Parade (Redlands)– 12/3, Saturday at 6 p.m.

7. 34th Annual Christmas Parade (San Bernardino)– 12/3, Saturday, 11 a.m.

8. 20th Annual Indio International Tamale Festival Parade (Indio) – 12/3, Saturday, 10 a.m.

9. "Lights on the Lake" Holiday Boat Parade (Perris) – 12/10, Saturday, 5-9 p.m.

10. Fontana Christmas Parade (Fontana) – 12/10, Saturday, at 10 a.m. and don't miss Fontana's Ski Lodge at Veterans Park from 11-5 p.m.

11. Miracle on Second St. Christmas Parade (Pomona) - 12/10, Saturday, 10-2 p.m.

!!UPDATES!!
We found so many more parades and festivities we knew we had to add to our list and share with everyone. Check 'em out!

1. 7th Annual Parade of Lights and Winter Festival (Norco) – 12/3, Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.

2. Winter Wonderland Parade (Ontario)– 12/4, Sunday, starting 1 p.m.

3. "Through the Eyes of Child" Holiday Parade (Coachella) – 12/9, Friday, starting at 6 p.m.

4. Fontana Christmas Parade (Fontana) – 12/10, Saturday, 11-5 p.m.

Inland Empire Remembers Our Veterans

Hi neighbors -

Veteran's Day is this weekend and I felt like paying tribute to the men and women who give so much of themselves for our country by dedicating this blog post to them. I try to stay away from political and controversial topics but providing support for our Veterans is something very personal to me. So, I've listed some upcoming local events where you can pay your tribute and have some fun!

We'll try to add to the list as the week goes along but if you see something please give us a shout! You know where - FB and TWITTER :)


1. UCR VETERANS SERVICES ANNUAL VETERAN’S DAY LUNCHEON (Riverside)

2. 15TH ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS VETERANS DAY PARADE (Palm Springs)

3. VETERANS DAY CELEBRATION @ THE MEMORIAL ROSE GARDEN (Fontana)

4. HOWIE MANDELL AND 82ND AIRBORNE CHORUS (Riverside)

5. VETERANS DAY JAZZ CONCERT (Palm Desert)

6. DOWNTOWN RIVERSIDE'S VETERAN'S DAY TRIBUTE (Riverside)

7. MORENO VALLEY SUNSET CEREMONY (Moreno Valley)

Here are some other ways you can pay tribute to Veterans.

1. BACK OUR TROOPS PULL UP COMPETITION (UC Riverside)

2. INLAND EMPIRE VETERANS STAND DOWN

Till next time...

Local Halloween Day Happenings

Hi neighbors -

Halloween is just around the corner. My costume is prepared, candy bowl is ready and jack-o-lantern is frightening little kids as we speak. But for those that aren't staying home for the trick or treating crowd here is a list of local Halloween events you can check out. If you end up going out to any of the events we'd love to hear about it. Give us a shout on our FB or tweet us.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

1. The Sycamore Inn presents Halloween Murder Mystery Dinner (Rancho Cucamonga)

2. Nightmare at the Fairplex (Pomona)

3. Field of Screams (Lake Elsinore)

4. Scandia's 18th Annual Haunted House (Ontario)

5. Human Roast House (Riverside)

6. Big Horse Corn Maze (Temecula)

7. Live Oak Pumpkin Patch (Yucaipa)

8. Scary-A-Faire Celebration (Upland)

9. Halloween Trick or Treating & Haunted Yards (Riverside)

10. Coffin Creek (Corona)

Boo!

More Awesome Autumn IE Happenings

Hi neighbors -

Can you believe it's Fall and it's already October? Whew...this year seems to be zipping by so quickly. Let's soak it all in while the weather's cooling down and hit up some more fun Autumn happenings in our area. Did you check out our previous list of fun Fall events? Hopefully, we found a few more good ones you can enjoy...

1. RIVERSIDE CITRUS CLASSIC BIKE RIDE on 10/9 - Cycle for a good cause!

2. LAKE ARROWHEAD BREWFEST lakeside on October 8 at the Arrowhead Lake Association's Tavern Bay Beach Club from 1-5 p.m. - Local brews will definitely be there

3. CLASSIC FILM SERIES @ VICTORIA GARDENS Every Thursday at Chaffey Town Square (Rancho Cucamonga)

4. THE PUMPKIN PATCH at Live Oak Canyon - 25 acre pumpkin patch with kids activities, corn maze, gift tent, events…whew…that’s a lot for a pumpkin patch!

5.IE FOOD TRUCK FEST AND BREW FEST (Ontario) on 10/8 - Food trucks, local breweries, live music and giveaways!

6. 6TH ANNUAL JOSHUA TREE ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL 10/8-10/9. Check out the line up!

7. PACKINGHOUSE BREWING CO. ROCK THE HOUSE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION on 10/22

8. SPOTLIGHT 29 CASINO FREE FRIDAY CONCERTS (Coachella) from 10/7-12/9 - Lookin' forward to the Journey tribute band on 11/4. Oh yeah!

9. UNDERLAND - contemporary dance performance choreographed by New York-based choreographer Stephen Petronio at UCR University Theatre on 11/16

Are we missing any events you feel should definitely be on our list? Holler, shout, protest or politely suggest something on our FB wall or tweet us.

Till next time...

IE Halloween Haunts and Frightening Finds

Hi neighbors -

Are you getting ready for that spooky time of year? There's a lot of great lists online of local Halloween events that you can attend with your friends and family. Here are a few we found that we wanted to share with everyone.

If we've missed anything and you feel should be added to our list please give us a shout on FB and Twitter.

Enjoy!

1. NIGHTMARE AT SCAREVIEW FARMS at the Pomona Fairplex - $15

2. HAUNTED STADIUM in Lake Elsinore - $15

3. HUMAN ROAST HOUSE in Downtown Riverside - $10.

4. CASTLE DARK at Castle Park in Riverside - $22.99

5. CHAMBERS OF MAUSOLIUM at Crossroads Riverview Park in Corona - $13

6. COFFIN CREEK also at Crossroads Riverview Park in Corona - tickets starting at $13

7. JEKYLL & HYDE THE MUSICAL playing at the Sturges Center for the Fine Arts (San Bernardino) from Oct 14-16th

8. RIVERSIDE ZOMBIE CRAWL in Downtown Riverside on 10/22 2-7:30 p.m. – Get zombified!

9. THE ZOMBIE BAND playing at The Press (Claremont) on 10/29

Autumn Fairs, Festivals and Fun

Hi neighbors -

Fall is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to pulling out the cozy sweaters, filling up on some pumpkin spice lattes and checking out the upcoming Halloween, Thanksgiving and pre-holiday fun around the IE. We have lots of events to look forward to this Fall. Below are just a few and we'll continue to add to the list as the weather cools down. If you have a recommendation please let us know. Give us a shout on FB or Twitter.

10/1 FAMILY VILLAGE FESTIVAL (Riverside)
http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/firstsundays.asp

10/8 10a-1p 2nd ANNUAL WALK-N-WAG-A-THON (Chino)
http://www.westendshelter.com/Upcoming%20Events.htm

10/8 9-5pm CALIMESA STREET FAIRE
http://beaumont-banning.discoverthepass.com/

10/22 TOMATO BATTLE at the Pomona Fairplex. Use discount code IEDD for 30% off tickets. http://www.tomatobattle.com

10/22 CLAREMONT'S 30TH ANNUAL VILLAGE VENTURE ARTS & CRAFTS FAIRE
http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/SpecialEvents.aspx

10/23 IE DERBY DIVAS “DIE ’N FOR DERBY" (Torque Wenches vs. Sleazy Riders) http://iederbydivas.com/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270985009580426

11/11-12 PILGRIM’S PLACE FESTIVAL (Claremont)
http://www.pilgrimplace.org/pilgrim_place_festival.php

11/19 ONTARIO EMPORIA ARTS DISTRICT ART WALK
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Emporia-Arts-District

11/25-27 HOLIDAY ARTS & CRAFTS FAIRE (Lake Gregory)
http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/SpecialEvents.aspx

And here's a picture of IE in the Fall to get us in the moood...Enjoy!

Fun Fair Day

Hi neighbors!

We recently had the good fortune of finding a cheap way of getting into the L.A. County Fair. We knew from the beginning that we would have a lot of pictures to share with you from our day but we did not anticipate this many. Just in a matter of hours we racked up over 300 pictures. There were just too many fun attractions we couldn't help but get a little shutter happy.

We hope you enjoy the loads of photos captured from that day starting with the Pomona Day at the Fair, the tons of rides, yummy food, petting zoo, wine tasting, Dude Ranch, exhibits, shows and parades...whew..the list goes on. We want to share these fun memories with you and hope you get the chance to create your own. You can enter our L.A. County Fair ticket giveaway on our Facebook page. Just like our page and tell us something you and your family like to do together in the IE. And if you already are our FB friend then go ahead and just leave us the same post. Can't wait to hear from you!

All right already, enough with the yapping let's get to the fun stuff!












* By the way, we won the pig pillow at a fair game ~ yay!

Summer Itinerary Continued...

Hi neighbors and friends -

Can you believe it's almost the end of July?! I haven't been able to accomplish half of the things I wanted to this summer but I continue to add to the list of spots I want to check out. I may not be able to catch them all but I definitely think these should make it to the summer itinerary. What do you think? Do you have any upcoming events on your summer itinerary you'd like to share? I'd love to hear.

1. 8/19 Redlands Bowl Closing Symphony Concert with fireworks
2. Cooper Regional History Museum - In my search for more fruit label murals around the IE I stumbled upon the museum's main gallery exhibit: "California Citrus Story." Sounds interesting!
3. Art Walks - Here are just a few to choose from:
- Claremont Art Walk: First Friday of the month from 5:30-8:30 pm in the Claremont Village
- Riverside Art Walk: First Thursday of the month from 6-9pm in Downtown Riverside.
- Pomona Art Walk: Second and last Saturday from 6-9 pm.
4. "Robots + Us" exhibit at the Western Center Museum in Hemet.
5. Weekend excursion to Idyllwild - I might have to invite myself over to a friend's place up there and plan another weekend getaway. Lookin' forward to getting away from the city and escaping to the mountains!
6. "Blues for the Zoo" - Tweeted about it a little while back. It's a fundraiser concert at the Big Bear Lake Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater on August 6th benefiting the Moonridge Animal Park. Good cause, good music and great atmosphere :)
7. Sausage and Beer Festival - Happening at the Highland Springs Resort in Cherry Valley from August 20-21st from 11-5 pm. Sausage, beer and free admission?! Count me in!

And let's end our list with dessert...

8. CUPCAKES!! - Go on a cupcake bender and hit up some local cupcake shops like Suite 106 Cupcakery and My Delight Cupcakery and Some Crust Bakery.

Whew...this seems like a long list! There's a lot to do in the IE and it's going to be hard to keep up but as long as it's a good time I know it'll be worth it! See you around the IE!

Are you excited about the IE Food Truck Festival? I AM!

As some of you may know I am really excited about this summer. I'm looking forward to a lot of fun events (*ahem* like the launch of my site) and one of them is the IE Food Truck Fest happening this Saturday, 6/18. I was lucky enough to snag some time with the fantastic lady behind the event Ashley Eliot. You may know her from other gourmet food truck festivals like the ones from LA and OC. I had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about the event that's got the IE all abuzz.

IESHINEON: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me about the event. I'm really excited about it coming to the IE. What made you decide to put this event on in the IE and specifically in Ontario?

ASHLEY: The IE Weekly approached me about putting on a gourmet food truck festival in their area. So, I started looking into the [Ontario Citizens Business Bank] Arena and we started working it out from there. It's a beautiful venue and they're wonderful to work with.

IESO: Was it difficult to get the 50 food trucks on board with coming out to our neck of the woods?

ASHLEY: It was a little difficult at first because they were unfamiliar with the area. But they quickly realized it's an opportunity for them to get more exposure and meet their existing IE followers.

IESO: What type of support have you been getting from the community?

ASHLEY: It's been a great partnership with the Arena and we've been getting a lot of support from IE Weekly. We've also been getting a lot of attention from local media, support from food blogs and love from roaminghunger.com.

IESO: In addition to the food trucks what other fun things can we look forward to this Saturday?

ASHLEY: Well, we've got lots of things like the kids area with educational lessons about planting herbs and other events like the skate demo provided by Active Ride Shop, Syndicate Roller Girls skate demo, live local music and DJs, and free samples of Popchips and Fuze. We'll also see local businesses getting in on the action like the wonderful cupcake shop from Ontario My Delight Bakery. They host lots of events with food trucks so they've been great!

Oh, and one more thing! We know it gets hot waiting in line so we're going to have a unique new treat. We're going to have "rolling bars." Basically they're golf carts with all types of beverages so you can wait more comfortably.

IESO: Well, that's just neat! I could not be more excited about this. Thanks for your time, Ashley!

So, I'll see you there this Saturday, folks! I'll be the one double fisting an ice cream sandwich in one hand and something else equally mouth watering in the other.

Till next time...