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Spring Has Sprung: April Happenings In Palm Springs

April is packed with goings on, and with all the rain (now called a hydrologic event on my weather app) we had in March that means color — aka March showers bring April wildflowers!

No superbloom, they say, but the mountains have been celebrating St. Paddy’s Day the entire month of March by turning green! I have lived here for nine years and this is only the second time this has happened. The last time was 2019 and that year we were lousy with wildflowers. We also flooded, but that’s so 2019. Those rains that brought the superbloom came in February. This year they came in March so April should be bursting with color. And pollen. But they have pills for that ish.

Let’s get started on the rest, shall we?

The main events

April 1: Palm Springs Cruisin Association Car Show

April 1: AmDocs Festival at Palm Springs Cultural Center

April 1: Palm Springs International Dance Festival Nickerson Rossi Dance Studio

April 1 – May 7: Desert X. That link describes and shows photos. This link gives you options for a map and an app. (Learn more about a few of the art installations here on our blog.)

April 1: Desert Mountains Art Show. It is art in the mountains, what more can I tell you?

April 2: Palm Springs Vintage Market. Great market for vintage everything. You’d think they’d have run out of clothes by now, but not so much.

April 14-17: Coachella (Weekend 1). Waitlisted. Listen, if you don’t know what Coachella is, you’re never going to go. But here is my favorite YouTube clip from Coachella.

April 21-24: Coachella Weekend 2. Tickets still available at the time I am writing this.

April 23: South Palm Canyon Art Collective Sunday Soirée, 1500 South Palm Canyon. Work on display from five resident artists and several guest artists. The soirée is free.

April 28-30: Stagecoach. The country version of Coachella. Less drugs, more booze.

Saturdays and Sundays: College of the Desert Street Fair. If you’re down valley for Desert X or a music festival you have to stop here. It’s huge. I accidentally drove past it one weekend and was blown away by the size of it. I just made a plan to go.

This year’s Coachella lineup.

Repeat contenders

Hockey games and big name performers at Acrisure. April has Reba McIntyre and John Mayer. Concerts are pricey, but the hockey games are affordable.

Dinner and a show

Ticketed 

Oscar’s

Purple Room 

PS Underground 

PS Air Bar

Come On Up at the Palm Springs Cultural Center (Mildred’s small menu)

Come on up to Come On Up!

Reservations

Melvyn’s – Piano man.

Yaas Queen

Mondays: Bella da Ball, Palm Springs’ 6’4” Drag Mother at King’s Highway for Bingo, followed by Trivia in the Amigo Room.

Drag me to brunch

Great drag roundup article here

Roly China Fusion

Oscar’s

Chill Bar

PS Air – Mile High Boozy Brunch 

Reforma (Saturdays) Different date, different show. And in You Need To Calm Down news, the last one was a Taylor Swift drag brunch.

Nightclubs

Reforma (nightlife and dinner)

Toucan’s Tiki Lounge

Hunters

Pretty Faces

Cascade Lounge — Mixed entertainment, all A+, and home of Jazzville.

Sammy G’s Upstairs Bar — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, The Evaro Brothers. Great pop dance music you can sing along to while dancing.

Theater

Dezart Performs — The Garbologists

CVRep — Hand to God

Desert Ensemble Theater — Future Thinking

Desert Theatricals – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Musicals Under the Stars). Act fast and you can snag a dinner seat too.

An iconic Palm Springs windmill farm. Photo: Nadine Conger

Just for fun

Windmill Tour — You’re driving, someone else is talking, but they aren’t in your car. How do they do that? 

Desert Tasty Tours — Eat your way through Palm Springs history on a walking food tour.

Red Jeep Tours – San Andreas Fault, Jeep-y stuff 

Celebrity Tours

Cannabis Express Tours – April is National Cannabis Awareness Month. Get yourself educated on everything cannabis. It’s fun and educational too. 

PS Historical Society Walking & Biking Tours — There are 14 to choose from.

MOGO Silent Disco — Their tagline? “Shut up and dance.”

Pro VR — Virtual reality gaming, including escape rooms.

Escape Room — Actual escape rooms.

Movies in the Park — Old-timey movies under the stars.

Hiking: Indian Canyons is closed April 1-8; Tahquitz still open. Here’s a great article from Visit Palm Springs on where to go. Keep in mind numbers 1 and 6 are part of Indian Canyons.

That’s it for me this month. As always, please shop and stay local. And that includes cannabis because it’s National Cannabis Awareness Month. I might have said that already. I’m hungry… 

See you next time!

/by

Jammin’ In July — Palm Springs Style

“Everyone’s feeling pretty, it’s hotter than July. Though the world’s full of problems, they couldn’t touch us even if they tried.” — Stevie Wonder, “Master Blaster”

July is a big month everywhere in the USA because *drumroll* it’s America’s 247th birthday. California wasn’t even a state back then — well, it was, but it was Spanish.

Before that, Native Americans roamed free and have fascinating lore dating back thousands of years. The last Net (chief) of the Cahuilla tribe wrote them all down. I stopped reading at “flies the size of a dog” because ew. But he describes saber-toothed tigers and all the animals they found in the La Brea Tar Pits as being part of their oral history.

That was a long road to travel for me to say: I’ma write a post about the big birthday bash in Palm Springs. This is the “after” party space, and there’s still plenty to do, and I need to tell you about our Splash Pass because it’s crazy good.

So, here are some fun things to do when you come out. (I realize now, after reading it back, that phrase has a dual meaning, but I’m not mad at it. Here in PS, you do you. Just earlier in the week I saw two guys in, not sure you can call them shorts, both wearing mesh dog heads. My companion said it was called “puppy play” and no one blinked; everyone in Bill’s Pizza just went about their own business.)

Here’s what’s going on during the Palm Springs month-long birthday after-party:

Happy hours

Zin American Bistro

The lounge at Hotel Zoso 

Bar Chingona

Ticketed events 

PS Underground — Highly original shows with equally original menus that complement the show

Cascade — Comedy, jazz, Latin, blues

Reforma — Check out their creative drag brunches

Big venues outside PS

Acrisure (Palm Desert/Thousand Palms arena)

The Show (Rancho Mirage)

Stuff to do

July 8: Crystal Fantasy Psychic Fair all weekend. Other events here.

Four Twenty Bank Jam Sessions at the dispensary/lounge are every Thursday, for singers, songwriters, comedians, poets, etc. All are welcome to play with or without the house band, so go try out that new song you just wrote, or buy some inspiration and enjoy it while you shoot some pool and listen to the jams.

July 13, 15, 27, and 29: Cocktail Cinema at PS Art Museum: Enjoy four films with iconic soundtracks. Before the show, purchase a specially-crafted cocktail inspired by the movie. Cocktails start at 5 p.m., with the films at 6 p.m. Free with registration.  

The very hip, brand spankin’ new Drift Palm Springs hotel is offering some very cool events including pool parties. They also have a new restaurant that’s on my list to try. Check out their fun times here.

The poolside views at Drift are delightful. Photo courtesy of Drift Palm Springs

Palm Springs Historical Society Private Tours  — Outside of season, things tend to slow down a bit, but they don’t stop. You can still go on one of the awesome tours offered by the Historical Society, you just have to call ahead.

Hiking with T — I can hike, generally without being airlifted out (there was that one time, at band camp…) but it can get tricky out here. So, that’s a link to someone who has more than a clue. She also has a recurring space in the CV Independent, our local newspaper.

Reminders

Coachella presale for 2024 already sold out — get on the waiting list here.

Modernism Week October goes on sale August 1. The hottest tickets sell out immediately, so grab those and then grab yourself a room at one of our preferred boutique hotels so you can stay authentically Palm Springs.

A Modernism Week bus tour. Photo courtesy of Visit Palm Springs

And if you haven’t caught wind of it yet, we’ve got a little summer special that’s sizzling hot in its own right. It’s the Summer Splash pass that’s a collaboration of organizations and businesses in Palm Springs offering discounts and deals from hoteliers, restaurants, bars, and local attractions. Read more at the link above, and to get your pass, click here.

Join us this summer in Palm Springs where we’ll be jammin’ until the break of dawn. 

You could be jammin’ and jammin’ and jammin’… 

We’ll be doing it in August too, so see you then!

/by

No June Gloom Here — Events In Sunny Palm Springs

We’re getting into sleepy town time here in Palm Springs. The misters are on and the specials are rolling out, but the sidewalks are not rolling up. We’re not deep into sleepy town time, we’re at half past. 

This go-round we have a few events of note, some of the usual suspects, a new outrageously fun tour, and then those specials. Many of our hotels are offering summer rates too, so you can stay local.

It’s a great time to come, but take a tip from the locals: do all the “heavy lifting” before 10 a.m. Late mornings you can stroll the strip under those misters, and stop for bites and happy hours or lunch until you’re ready to pool. They’re still a pleasant temperature, because the weather is deliciously warm during the days and still on the cool end in the evenings. It’s a great place and time to come for a getaway in the desert to recharge. IYKYK.

When you’re not recharging, you’re gonna want something to do. That’s where I come in. Read on: 

June Events

Palm Springs International Short Film Festival — AKA ShortFest Film Festival taking place June 24-30. 

Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week through June 8 — I’ve put the link here for you to explore, but I’ve also got a post with all of the participating Palm Springs restaurant all sorted out for you. 

Beale AFB Air and Space Expo 2025 — June 7 at 8 a.m.-June 9 at 5 p.m. at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Showcasing the cutting-edge capabilities of the U.S. Air Force and fostering community connection to its vital mission. For more about the show and Beale, click here.

Happy Hours

Lulu California Bistro — Happy Hour: Daily from 11 a.m. until closing (bar area only). Specials: $5.99 domestic beers, $8.99 specialty cocktails, and discounted bar bites.

Trio Palm Springs — Happy Hour: Daily from 4 to 6 p.m. in the bar; all day on Tuesdays in the bar and misted patio. Specials: $6 wine and well cocktails, $4 beer, $10 well martinis, and 25% off all bottles of wine on Wednesdays.

Zin American Bistro — Happy Hour: Weekdays from Noon to 6 p.m.; weekends from 3 to 6 p.m. (bar area only). Specials: $2 off draft beer, $8 well cocktails, champagne and wine specials, and a selection of happy hour snacks.

Chill Bar Palm Springs — Happy Hour: Tuesday to Saturday until 7 p.m.; Sunday from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Specials: half off all well drinks, $1 off draft beer, and $2 off wine.

Food and Drink Specials (Outside of Restaurant Week)

Kaiser Grille has a sunset special, which is what most restaurants call an early bird special, but we’re no longer naming things after birds. We’ve already got our beloved snowbirds, and an awful lot of real birds. I don’t know if that’s the real reason — likely not as I made up. 

The point being, if you enjoy an early dinner and like to pepper the rest of your evening with bar bites and cocktails along the way, this is a great choice. I learned long ago, you gotta eat before you party. Here’s what you get: two courses (one first and one entrée). The first course is on them, you pay for your entrée. Butts in seats by 5:30 p.m. please. Tuesdays are Tomahawk Night — the kind you eat, not throw. I’m sure we could find a bar in a 20-mile radius that has the latter available if you really feel the need.

Lulu California Bistro — Daily lunch specials starting at $12.99, including a main course and beverage.

Trio Restaurant — “Wine Wednesdays” offer 25% off all bottles of wine.

Zin American Bistro — Weekend brunch specials include $5 mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Chill Bar Palm Springs — “Sunday Funday” features $5 Bloody Marys and mimosas until 2 p.m. (Food menu varies but includes brunch items.)

The Tropicale — Three-course prix fixe dinner menu available Sunday through Thursday for $39.

Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge — “Martini Mondays” come with an optional food pairing menu and lounge bites.

Entertainment

Acrisure Arena: June 21: Banda MS, June 29: Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live – Glow N Fire 

PS Underground — Their schedule so far is going into July, and you will not be disappointed in the food or the entertainment. Tables are banquet style, but your meal has been especially designed for the show and it’s so “satisfying and delicious, you may even eat the dishes.” (Don’t do that, the dishes aren’t edible, it’s a song by Willie Wonka.)  

Most of the tours have shut down for the season, but not one of the newest tours on your dance card: Drag and Fly Tours. A unique tour by Palm Springs’ most engaging Queens, Drag and Fly Tours is a one-of-a-kind experience that mixes live drag performances, storytelling, and video to showcase Palm Springs’ most iconic sights. Wait until you get a load of the bus!

Palm Springs VillageFest: Held every Thursday evening in downtown Palm Springs, offering art, entertainment, shopping, and food on Palm Canyon Drive.

Palm Springs Cultural Center: This June the Center reverts back to its roots, a movie house, playing all of the classics you’d love to see on the big screen all summer long. Built in the late 1960s and the first cineplex in the Valley, the Palm Springs Cultural Center was formerly Camelot Theatres. The sound and picture here are so fantastic that a wide variety of film festivals call it home. From screwball comedy Sundays to Hitchcock to director’s cuts of well received movies. Many of these will have a Q&A right after, and if you’re a cinephile, this is heaven.

Events include: a Hitchcock retrospective and Q&A for Dial M For Murder (June 6), The Graduate (June 13), All About Eve (June 20), and Oklahoma! (June 29)

Coming soon

And for future you, advance tickets are now available for the Broadway’s Best…In The West concert series, returning in the fall with their third season. Executive produced by Dr. Tom Truhe and presented by the Palm Springs Cultural Center, these events sell out very fast. This year, the musical guests will be: Paulo Szot, Sierra Boggess, Jessica Vosk, Tony Yasbeck. The shows being in December and run once a month until the last show in March.

That’s it for June, we’ll be heating it up next month and if all goes as it usually does, we’ll be moving into Splash House time in the beginning of August.

Don’t forget about the Palm Springs Surf Club, it has surfing, a restaurant and a few new events you might like to check out like the all swim. It’s a pretty cool place!

Ciao for now!

/by