City of Desert Hot Springs hosts annual holiday parade and festival

Community members celebrated the Holiday Parade of Lights and Holiday Festival in Desert Hot Springs.

Many community members came to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. Rebecca Murillo participated in the parade and was eager to get her classmates involved in it too.

"This is very special to me because all the members from the Spanish Club of Desert Hot Springs High School get together, and then we design this beautiful float," said Murillo.

Murillo is the president of the Desert Hot Springs Spanish Club. She said it took her clubmates two weeks to finish their float.

"We have to build everything from scratch. We worked from straight after school we started working on it till, I believe, nine," said Murillo.

Friends and families cheered as the parade marched down Palm Drive. City and state officials came to the festive occasion, and even assembly member Eduardo Garcia enjoyed the local band De Desierto.

Romero is also a member of the Spanish Club. His band provided the music for his float.

"I like to be with my friends, and just honestly like being that school spirit, you know," said Romero.

Many schools were showing off their school spirit. One of the marching bands included Desert Hot Springs High School and Desert Springs Middle School.

"It's cool, like, because you get to meet new people, and it's fun," said Romero.

Some low riders cruised and bounced down the street. Also, the James O. Jessie Drill Team and drum squad danced. And Santa and Mrs. Claus came to town too.

The parade was festive, but Murillo said the day meant so much more to her because of the level of engagement she experienced.

"They wanted to do this as much as I wanted to do this. So we all brought it together," said Murillo.