Local residents and visitors to downtown Riverside will be treated to free ice cream, prepared with a vintage touch, Sunday in what will be the Museum of Riverside’s first “Ice Cream Social” in at least five years.
The event gets underway at noon in the museum’s Heritage House, where patrons will be served hand-cranked ice cream of various flavors, while enjoying old-fashioned music and other treats.
The last social was held prior to the COVID lockdowns, and the museum described this year’s as “long-awaited and highly anticipated.”
Museum officials describe the social as a step back in time to the Victorian era, particularly a look at how people relaxed and enjoyed sweltering spring and summer afternoons in the 1890s.
“Many Americans adored some of the same favorite flavors we enjoy today, including vanilla, chocolate and strawberry,” the museum said.
There will be several “celebrity scoopers” from the metropolitan area serving ice cream, but the museum kept their identities under wraps.
The Heritage House mansion was constructed in 1891 and showcases a plethora of items to offer visitors insights on how Riverside’s affluent lived at the turn of the previous century.
The social will conclude at 4 p.m.