PALM SPRINGS SOCIAL SCENE

IT’S SO GOOD TO BE BACK!

Where have the past 2+ years gone? What a time of ups and downs, change, concerns and new directions, to say the least.

Salute to all who worked so diligently including, but not limited to, health-care professionals, emergency personnel, law enforcement, and all those who gave that extra something and who worked together and continue to fight the fight on so many fronts.

I’m thrilled to be back sharing the Palm Springs area social highlights. The season is all abuzz!

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a special event, Bullying: A Community Symposium, will be on Saturday, October 1 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The city’s Human Rights Commission will host this free forum and discussion. palmspringsca.gov

Vanity Halston’s Drag Star Challenge will begin on Sunday, October 2 at One Eleven Bar. Ten queens over 10 weeks with no eliminations, vying for over $2,000 in cash and prizes with a grand prize of $1,111. vanitysdragstarchallenge.com

Palm Springs Vintage Market will be on Sundays, October 2, November 6 and December 4 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center at the Camelot Theater. This seasonal boutique flea market offers vintage items, food, entertainment and free parking. palmspringsvintagemarket.com

Not Your Mama’s Chicken Ranch Charity Show (with Dani Blue, Anita Rose, Valentine, Reba, Summer Eve, emcee Steven and Keisha D) and Pretty in Pink, custom bra auction, benefitting Desert Cancer Foundation, will be Wednesday, October 5 at The Roost Lounge. The Debby Holiday dinner show will be Sunday, October 9 and features Gennine Francis Jackson and DJ Galaxy. theroostcc.om

Singing With the Desert Stars, benefitting the Desert Ensemble Theatre’s education program, will be Friday, October 7 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. Six all-star coaches (Jeff Barnett, Darci Daniels, Patrick Evans, Charles Herrera, Lizzie Schmelling, Leslie Tinnaro) will perform and mentor six contestants (Winston Gieseke, Charles Huff, Shay Moraga, Jeffrey Norman, Christine Tringali Nunes, Joe Zakowski) in performing a song. The audience will select the winner. Jerome Elliott Moskowitz will host, and music director will be Constance Gordy. desertensembletheatre.org

First Friday Art Walk, a free art experience in Cathedral City, will open for the season on Friday, October 7 in the Perez Road Art District. It’s a selfguided tour with 15 artists and their working studios. discovercathedralcity.com

Wine & Dine Around the World, a wine-tasting event featuring over 300 wines from nine countries, paired with regional hors d’oeuvres, will be on Friday, October 7 at the Palm Springs Air Museum. The event is a culmination of Wine Down Wednesdays, supporting 18 valley nonprofits. markerbroadcasting.com The second annual Palm Springs International Down Syndrome Film Festival will run from Friday, October 7 through Sunday, October 9 at the Mary Pickford Theatre in D’Place, presented by the Filmmakers’ Gallery. dplaceentertainment.com

Jewels will host Bingo on Saturday, October 8 at Wilma & Frieda, Palm Springs. Meet and greet with Lynette Carolla and Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. wilmafrieda. comThe 16th annual Paint El Paseo Pink, a walk to fight cancer and benefitting Desert Cancer Foundation, will be Saturday, October 8. paintelpaseopink.com Art of Alliance of Idyllwild will present the 24th annual Art Walk and Wine Tasing on Saturday, October 8. artinidyllwild.org Beyond Van Gogh, an immersive experience, will run through Sunday, November 27 at the Forum at Empire Polo Club in Indio. It uses cutting-edge projection technology that showcases 300 of Van Gogh’s artworks over more than 30,000 square feet. vangoghpalmsprings.com

Jose Sarria Foundation Pop Up Museum will celebrate the 100th birthday of Jose Sarria, the drag performer and gay-rights advocate who many historians contend was the first openly gay person to campaign for public office in the U.S. It will be at the Welwood Murray Library in Palm Springs from Tuesday, October 11 through Wednesday, December 14. There will be displays of Jose’s personal items, screenings of the films Nelly Queen: The Life & Times of Jose Sarria, 50 Years of Fabulous and Queen of the Capital. Sarria was the founder of the Imperial Court system and was known as Empress José and the Widow Norton. josesarria.org

The PalmSprings Chamber of Commerce will have star-installation ceremonies for Richard DeSantis on Sunday, October 11. The App Store for iPhone has an app that provides tour locations for 440 stars. Hard to believe it has been nine years since I received this fabulous star honor. Thanks to all involved. walkofthestars.com

Modernism Week October will be from Thursday, October 13 through Sunday, October 16, featuring more than 50 events, tours, talks and parties throughout the area. The Palm Springs Modernism Fall Show will be at the Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday. Celebrate the architecture, art, music, fashion, attitude, lifestyle and food that makes Palm Springs the place to be. Check out home tours — House of Tomorrow (Elvis), The Chambers Residence, Frey House II, The Lautner Compound, Cavanaugh Adobe, Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms estate, Miles C. Bates Wave house and Sunnylands. I’m excited to again be hosting some double-deck bus tours. modernismweek.com

Celebrating the Hottest Cars in the Desert — Disco Inferno style will be the theme of the Great Autos Casual Concours 2022 at the Desert Princess Country Club, adjacent to the DoubleTree Hotel in Cathedral City on Saturday, October 15. Beneficiary will be the Oak Grove Sanctuary, transitional housing program for the LGBTQ community of foster youth transitioning to adulthood. greatautos. org and sanctuarypalmsprings.org

A new online show, The Palm Springs Baker, will premiere on Saturday, October 15. Chuck Swenson is the baker and host, and he will have guests (including yours truly, another Minnesota boy, on a future show) involved with creating goodies. Check to see if Chuck and I make a hot dish, bars, or what delicacy. thepalmspringsbaker.com The city of Desert Hot Springs will present the Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival on Saturday, October 15 at the Desert Hot Springs Recreation Center. Free admission. Community altar, food carts, shopping, low-rider showcase, live music, entertainment. cityofDHS.org

Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine will present Drag Me to Giving Brunch on Sunday, October 16 at a private home, hosted by Richard Odell and Andrew Uris. Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the first LGBTQ mariachi in the world, will perform and I will emcee this lovely event once again. cvvim.org

The annual Center Stage Gala for the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert will be on Friday, October 21 at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Entertainment will include Jennifer Corday, out-and-proud lesbian singer/songwriter, and Brian Justin Crumm, queer singer/songwriter and former America’s Got Talent finalist. Honorees at the gala, with a theme of Together We Rise, will include Jeremy Hobbs of the Western Wind Foundation and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. thecentercv.org

Palm Springs Leather Pride, Eruption, Meet ‘n Heat, will run from Thursday, October 27 through Sunday, October 29 at Hotel Zoso. Check out Tool Shed, the original leather and Levi bar in Palm Springs, for special Leather Pride weekend events. palmspringsleatherpride.org and pstoolshed.com The fourth annual Boo2Bullying Boo Ball willtake place on Friday, October 28 at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. The theme will be the Golden Age of Hollywood. Proceeds will benefit Boo2Bullying suicide prevention and school program. Actors and Palm Springs residents Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan will host. boo2bullying.org The annual DAP Health/Desert AIDS Walk will be on Saturday, October 29 at Ruth Hardy Park. It will follow a route through downtown Palm Springs. desertaidswalk.org Check out the Halloween festivities at The Shops on El Paseo in Palm Desert, scheduled for Saturday, October 29. theshopsonelpaseo.com. The fourth annual Tejano Music Fest will be on Saturday, October 29 at the new Community Amphitheater in Cathedral City. Grammy Award-winning bands, including Rick Fuentes and the Brown Express, Hugo Guerrero, plus Tejano Highway 281, Chalito Zapata y Los Traviesos and Hector Gonzalez. Free admission and parking. tejanomusicfest.com Hocker Productions will present Halloween on Arenas (between Indian Canyon and Calle Encilia) on Sunday, October 30 and will feature an afternoon tea dance, live music from 6 to10 p.m. and costume contest at 8 p.m. Entertainment will include Ada Vox, Willie Gomez, Mikalah Gordon, David Hernandez, Pulp Vixen, Jesika von Rabbit, Probe 7, DJ Galaxy, DJ Lisa Pittman, and the Men of Cybersocket.com. Emcees will be Alexander Rodriguez and yours truly. halloweenpalmsprings.com The sixth Cathedral City Halloween Spooktacular will be on Sunday afternoon, October 30. Trick or treat with 40,000 pieces of candy, kids’ costume contest, police and fire exhibitions, and music. discovercathedralcity.com The annual Palm Desert Golf Cart Parade will be on Sunday, October 30 on El Paseo. The day will include a flyover by Palm Springs Air Museum warbirds, classic cars, floats, band and dance troupes, and golf carts decorated to the max. pdacc.org

The highly anticipated new Acrisure Arena — home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds hockey team in an 11,000-seat venue just off Interstate 10 at Cook Street — announced the first group of concerts to be held there. They include The Doobie Brothers, December 15; Grupo Firme, December 16; Maroon 5, December 31; Eagles Hotel California played beginning to end, plus greatest hits set, January 18. The arena has a job fair throughout October and plans to hire about 1,000. The Firebirds home opener will December 18. Upcoming special promotional events include Salute to Pride, January 7-8 (giveaways include Pride flag and Firebirds pride sticker). dcrisurearena.com

Rock The Plaza, a concert to save the historic Plaza Theatre, will be on Friday, November 11 and will feature Alice Cooper, Paul Rodgers, Bad Company; Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age; Oriantha, Spike Edney, Brian Ray and Matt Sorum. savetheplazatheatreps.org The 36th Greater Palm Springs Pride celebration will rock downtown Palm Springs from Tuesday, November 1 through Sunday, November 6 with a huge slate of events, activities, entertainers and festivities. The theme will be SAY GAY! And we certainly will. pspride.org

Election Day is just around the corner. Don’t forget to vote. Let your voices be heard! Happy Halloween! Happy Leather Pride! Happy Pride! Enjoy and celebrate safely.

pspride.org