Annual Events & Festivals - Annual Festivals And Events

Special events in the Coachella Valley follow the weather patterns—when it’s hot, the pace slows to a crawl, but when the temperatures cool off, it’s impossible to fit everything in. Dozens of fund-raising galas, golf tournaments, film festivals, art shows, and sporting events fill the calendar from late September all the way through April, tapering off dramatically in May.

There are lots of high-priced dinners and dances, to be sure, but most of the events in this section are geared to be affordable to the typical vacationing family. There are also ample opportunities for free entertainment, from concerts in the park to street fairs and art festivals to car shows and bike rides.

Despite its close historical ties to Hollywood stars, the Palm Springs area was never associated with “the industry” until Sonny Bono started the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1990. Since then the slate of film festivals has grown enormously, and there seems to be a new specialty festival appearing every season. Many of these little festivals screen films that are virtually impossible to find outside of big-city art houses. And most of the festivals are held at the refurbished Camelot Theatre, close to downtown Palm Springs. A fixture in Palm Springs since its star-studded opening in 1967, the Camelot eventually closed and remained vacant for seven years until it was bought in 1999. Ric and Rozene Supple made upgrades and launched the Camelot as the desert’s home for foreign and art films.

Golf tournaments are also popular in Palm Springs. The desert has more than 100 golf courses, and save an economic blip every now and again, there seems no end to the hunger for more, bigger, and fancier. Some of the biggest names in the sport, and the biggest himself (sorry Tiger, Arnie’s still the man), maintain at least part-time residency here, and they’ve put there names on courses and even a restaurant. Combine the abundance of golf with the desert’s many charities, and you have a lot of opportunities to raise funds, and the desert’s residents do that in spades.

Each year there are tournaments that aren’t successful enough to be repeated, and others that change names or lose sponsors. Because of this, our listings cover only those tournaments that have a proven track record. In this chapter we’ve also highlighted the most prominent and long-lived annual events, and some of the strong-running upstarts, knowing that more will pop up by the time this book is in your hands. The events are organized by month, with ongoing fairs and events grouped together at the beginning of the chapter. Some of the events may change months, duration, and location, and prices are sure to change. The prices given were current at the time of publication and are printed here for reference only. Use this chapter to help you plan your visit, but be sure to confirm the details with the listed phone numbers and Web sites.