In 1989
Jeffrey Sanker’s
A-list “White Party”
landed
Palm Springs
a star on the gay
global map. Soon
after, Dinah Shore
Week expanded into
American’s largest
lesbian event. Now a
third major Palm
Springs event is
etching its moment
in time:
Gay Pride
Palm Springs.
Loud and proud, one
of the pride
sponsors, the
Riviera Palm Springs
Resort & Spa,
is celebrating Pride
Week with deep
discounts while
several other
fabulous Other Palm
Springs hotels are
also eager to
deliver a super
warm, gay welcome,
including
The Viceroy,
The Hacienda at Warm
Sands
and the
All Worlds Resort.
City Guide Columns
The heart of trattoria style
cooking is homey, unpretentious, honest and homemade food like you find
at Amici Italian Trattoria
in Rancho Mirage, California.
Though Palm Springs California
is somewhat politically
conservative, it is nevertheless
renowned for being a community
that is known for its inclusion
of gays and lesbians as part of
a diverse community. Current
estimates are that up to 33% of
Palm Springs' residents identify
as gay and lesbian. Cathedral
City is also home to a number of
gay resorts, bars, restaurants
and clubs. Many establishments
along a stretch of Arenas Road
in downtown Palm Springs are
gay-oriented and serve as the
center of the annual White
Party.
Palm Springs is also well known
for its celebrity mayor a few
years back, Sonny Bono. The
current mayor, Ron Oden is
perhaps the nation's only openly
gay African-American mayor.
Palm Springs, California hosts
an annual White Party. It was
the partial setting for the 2001
feature film Circuit. The Palm
Springs White Party was also
featured in a 2004 episode of
the television series The L Word
and in a 2006 episode of the
reality television series The
Janice Dickinson Modeling
Agency. The Palm Springs White
Party was described by Frommer's
Travel Guide as "one of the
biggest and best on the US party
circuit ... [with] over 20,000
gay men dressed in white. The
Palm Springs White Party
features a Ferris Wheel and a
fireworks display." In
2004, the New York Times travel
section featured an in-depth
look at The White Party in Palm
Springs in conjunction with
staff members of Noizemag.
The world's largest rotating
aerial tramcars (cable cars) can
be found at the
Palm Springs
Aerial Tramway. These cars
ascend two-and-a-half miles up a
steep incline to reveal views of
the entire Coachella Valley. The
ascent from the desert floor to
an altitude in excess of 8,500
feet (2,600 m) is accompanied by
a drop in temperature of 30
degrees Fahrenheit or more,
giving riders a cool respite
from the heat. A wilderness area
can be explored at the top of
the tram and there is a
restaurant with notable views.
The Palm Springs International
Film Festival presents movie
star-filled, red-carpet affairs.
The Palm Springs Follies
stage-show features performers
that are over the age of 55.
Every Thursday evening downtown
Palm Springs is transformed into
Village Fest, featuring a
diverse display of arts and
crafts, a certified farmer's
market, food, and live
entertainment on historic Palm
Canyon Drive. The Palm Springs
Convention Center underwent a
multi-million-dollar expansion
and remodeling in 2005
The Palm Springs Art Museum
presents traveling art
exhibitions plus a variety of
entertainment in its Annenberg
Theater. The Agua Caliente Band
of Cahuilla Indians is located
downtown with the Spa Resort
Hotel and Casino. There are
other casinos in the Coachella
Valley as well, notably in the
cities of Rancho Mirage, Indio,
Coachella and Cabazon.
Numerous five star hotels,
Gay and Lesbian
bars, restaurants and attractions
cater to tourists, while
shoppers can find high-end
boutiques in downtown and uptown
Palm Springs. There is a water
park and several skateboard
parks.
In Time is a science fiction thriller
film starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian
Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Matt Bomer, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki,
and Vincent Kartheiser. The Rum Diary
is directed by Bruce
Robinson and stars
Johnny Depp.
Puss in Boots,
a computer animation
film, stars Antonio
Banderas, Billy Bob
Thornton and Salma
Hayek.
Anonymous dramatizes a fringe theory, unsupported by any
historical evidence, that the works of Shakespeare were
written by an
Elizabethan
aristocrat, Edward
de Vere, 17th Earl
of Oxford.
