Blue Mountain Festival & City Parade

At 10:30 on a Saturday morning in May the parade steps off from the corner of Mt. Vernon Avenue and Grand Terrace Road. It runs south on Mt. Vernon, turns east on De Berry Street, and ends at Richard Rollins Community Park, where its arrival opens the Blue Mountain Festival. The marchers are local: schools and student clubs, sports teams, businesses, community groups, car enthusiasts, and residents. Under the city’s parade rules, no candy or other objects are thrown from the line, and no one rides in a truck bed.

The park sits behind Terrace Hills Middle School, near the corner of Mt. Vernon and De Berry. It has twelve acres of fields, a cement walking track with disabled access, and shelters, play lots, and a concession stand added in a recent renovation. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. the grounds hold games and contests, live entertainment on stage, a battle of the bands, and a car show. More than 90 community and craft booths line the park, food trucks serve the crowd, and the Grand Terrace Lion’s Club sponsors a beer garden. Admission is free.

The town rearranges itself for the morning. For the 2026 edition, held Saturday, May 16, the park closed the day before for setup. On the day, no-parking zones took effect along the route at 7 a.m. and road closures began at 9. The closures shut Mt. Vernon from Grand Terrace Road to De Berry and Barton Road at the Mt. Vernon intersection, and the city warned of delays and increased noise. Parking was set aside at City Hall on Barton Road, at Terrace Hills Middle School, and at Living World Inland Church on Mt. Vernon. Riverside Transit Agency’s Route 14 ran on detour from 9 until noon, with its stops at Center Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue out of service.

Before it took the Blue Mountain name, the festival was known as Community Day. Grand Terrace was incorporated in 1978 on the I-215 corridor between Riverside and San Bernardino, and it is referred to as the “Blue Mountain City.” The same name is on the Blue Mountain Trail, which starts at Palm Avenue and Honey Hill Drive. The city held its 18th annual Blue Mountain Hike there on March 1, 2026.