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What is the Colorado River Fall Festival?
The Colorado River Fall Festival is an annual York Rite Masonic gathering held each October in Laughlin, Nevada, where Masons from Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah confer the York Rite degrees and orders on candidates as a courtesy to the candidates' home bodies. It combines ritual work with fellowship: the festival describes itself as being about camaraderie, fraternalism, education, and cooperation, not just the conferrals.
Colorado River Fall Festival
What happens at the festival
- Degree conferrals take place over the main festival days, with a Candidate Orientation the evening before.
- A Fellowship Banquet with entertainment is held on the Monday evening.
- A Ladies' Luncheon is held on the Tuesday, supported by a separate ladies' program that includes a hospitality room and the Royal Arch Widow's Degree.
- Guest activities in the surrounding area include Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon West, and the London Bridge in Lake Havasu.
The event is hosted at Don Laughlin's Riverside in Laughlin, which the festival presents as an opportunity to extend the trip into a short vacation. The 2026 dates are October 18–20, marking the festival's 35th anniversary, with 2027 following on October 24–26.
Who it's for
Three audiences are addressed directly: candidates receiving the degrees (including sojourning candidates), their partners or guests through the ladies' program, and members generally who attend for the ritual and social side. If you are sponsoring a candidate, the festival handles courtesy-work requests so the degrees are conferred on behalf of the candidate's home body.
A practical next step
If you are considering attending, decide first which role fits you — candidate, sponsor, volunteer, or guest — because registration and the courtesy-work request follow different paths. A candidate's sponsor should start the courtesy-work request early, since the festival coordinates with the home body before the weekend.
How do I register for the 2026 Colorado River Fall Festival?
Registration for the 2026 Colorado River Fall Festival is handled through the festival website. The event runs October 18–20, 2026, at the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, and the site states that registration is now open. From the homepage you can choose the path that fits you: register as an attendee, volunteer to help run the festival, or, if you are sponsoring a candidate for the York Rite, submit a courtesy-work request.
The registration route depends on who you are:
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Attending the festival | Use the main festival registration option on the site |
| Sponsoring a York Rite candidate | Start the courtesy-work request so the degrees and orders can be conferred |
| Wanting to help | Sign up through the volunteer option |
| Bringing a guest or spouse | Register her separately for the Ladies' Luncheon on Tuesday at 11:30 AM |
A practical next step: decide your role before you start, because candidate sponsorship and general attendance are separate processes. If you are a candidate or sponsoring one, begin with the courtesy-work request rather than the general registration, since the festival confers the standard York Rite degrees and orders as a courtesy to candidates' home bodies, and sojourning candidates are welcome.
If anything is unclear, the page lists a committee contact email, [email protected]. For context on the host organization, see Colorado River Fall Festival.
How do I sponsor a candidate for the York Rite degrees at the festival?
Start the courtesy-work request on the festival site, then register yourself for the 2026 Festival. The page presents these as two separate steps: a "Sponsoring a candidate for the York Rite? Start the courtesy-work request here" link, and a general "Register for the 2026 Festival" link. The festival runs October 18–20, 2026 at the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, and the request is described as courtesy work done for a candidate's home bodies.
Colorado River Fall Festival
What "courtesy work" means here
York Rite Masons from Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah gather each October to confer the Degrees and Orders on candidates as a courtesy to the candidates' home Bodies. So a sponsor is not simply bringing a guest; the sponsoring body is asking another jurisdiction's team to do the ritual work on its behalf. That is why the request form matters before the event rather than at the door.
A practical sequence
- Confirm your candidate is ready and that his home Body agrees to courtesy work.
- Submit the courtesy-work request through the festival site.
- Register yourself for the festival.
- Tell the candidate about the Sunday evening Candidate Orientation — it is listed separately from the Monday and Tuesday conferrals.
- If you are also bringing a guest, register her for the Tuesday Ladies' Luncheon at 11:30 AM.
If you are only attending, not sponsoring
Use the volunteer route instead. The page offers a separate "Volunteer" option for members who want to help run the festival, and the general registration link for everyone else. For questions that the forms do not cover, the committee lists [email protected] as the contact.
Decision criterion
Choose the courtesy-work path only if your candidate's home Body is formally behind the request. If you are unsure whether that approval exists yet, settle it with your Body first — the festival's role is to confer the work, not to adjudicate sponsorship.
What is the Ladies' program at the Colorado River Fall Festival?
The Ladies' program is a parallel social track that runs alongside the York Rite degree conferrals, so a wife or guest can attend the festival without sitting through the ritual sessions. Per the festival's own page, it includes a hospitality room, a Ladies' Luncheon on Tuesday at 11:30 AM, and attendance at the Royal Arch Widow's Degree. The page also frames the trip as a chance to make new friends, visit nearby locales, shop, see a movie, or eat out, and notes the Riverside venue makes it easy to extend the stay into a vacation.
What to expect
- Hospitality room – a drop-in space to meet other attendees between events.
- Ladies' Luncheon – Tuesday at 11:30 AM; the page specifically asks that you register your guest for it.
- Royal Arch Widow's Degree – a ceremonial event the ladies' program includes, rather than a purely social outing.
- Free time – the page points to Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon West, and the London Bridge in Lake Havasu as guest activities.
How it fits the weekend
The festival's main conferrals happen Monday and Tuesday, with a Candidate Orientation Sunday evening and a Fellowship Banquet Monday evening. That means the ladies' events overlap with the ritual schedule rather than replacing it, so a couple can split up during the day and reunite for the banquet.
Practical next step
If you are sponsoring a candidate or attending yourself, register your guest at the same time you register for the festival and confirm the Tuesday luncheon when you do. Start at Colorado River Fall Festival and use the "For the ladies" section; the committee can be reached through the contact details listed there if you need to ask what the hospitality room hours are for your specific year.
What guest activities are available during the festival in Laughlin, Nevada?
The festival’s guest activities are aimed at people accompanying candidates or attending for the fraternal weekend, with the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin as the base. The site groups the options into a Ladies’ program and broader guest activities.
Ladies’ program
- A hospitality room runs alongside the festival.
- A Ladies’ Luncheon is held Tuesday at 11:30 AM; registration is requested.
- The Royal Arch Widow’s Degree is part of the ladies’ schedule.
- Free time is framed around making friends, shopping, movies, affordable meals and Nevada-style entertainment.
Nearby guest activities
- Hoover Dam
- Grand Canyon West
- The London Bridge in Lake Havasu
- Other activities at the Riverside and nearby
How to choose If you want a structured social schedule, the Ladies’ program gives you set times and a ready-made group. If you prefer sightseeing, the nearby attractions are better treated as day trips: Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon West are substantial outings, while Lake Havasu is a longer drive from Laughlin. Staying at the Riverside makes the evening banquet and luncheon easy to attend without extra transport.
Next step: check the festival’s guest activities and ladies’ program pages for current details and timing, then register the Ladies’ Luncheon if you plan to attend it. Colorado River Fall Festival
What are the upcoming dates and venue for the Colorado River Fall Festival?
The Colorado River Fall Festival is scheduled for October 18–20, 2026, at the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada (Don Laughlin's Riverside Casino serves as the annual venue). The following year's dates are already listed as October 24–26, 2027 at the same location.
The 2026 edition marks the festival's 35th anniversary, and registration is open via the festival's site, Colorado River Fall Festival.
What the weekend includes
- Sunday evening: Candidate Orientation
- Monday and Tuesday: Conferral of York Rite Degrees and Orders
- Monday evening: Fellowship Banquet with entertainment
- Tuesday, 11:30 AM: Ladies' Luncheon
Practical note
Because the venue is a casino resort in Laughlin, attendees often extend the trip into a short vacation — nearby options include Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon West, and the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. If you're sponsoring a candidate, the site has a courtesy-work request form; volunteers can also sign up through the same page.
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