I made made the trip ‘up the mountain’ over the past two weekends to lovely Idyllwild, which will be the spot for Pride Under the Pines in just two short months. While it was a nice respite from the heat, it’s also home to some great restaurants – from Cafe Aroma to FERRO. The latter is hosting a Summer Music Festival till Labor Day. We have details below.
What I love is that my all-electric Nissan Leaf arrives with the same battery charge as when I left the mountain – meaning that the trip being ‘downhill all the way’ allows the regenerative braking to kick in and give me a free ride.
Electric vehicles are here, (sometimes queer), so get used to it! And help save the planet.
Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide & KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs
For the latest, follow our socials @GayDesertGuide and @KGAY1065 and listen to KGAY Palm Springs wherever you may be!
P.S. If you’re not getting the weekly “Oasis Insiders” newsletter, please sign up today so we can stay in touch.
#ILoveGayPalmSprings
#ILoveGayCatCity
#ShopLocal
Modernism Week October Tickets on Sale Monday, August 1 at Noon
Modernism Week, the annual festival that highlights midcentury modern architecture, art, interior and landscape design, will offer Modernism Week – October from October 13–16. While smaller in scope than the 11-day festival held annually each February, the October event offers more than 50 events during 4 days, including several free and low-cost programs. A full schedule of events is now available and tickets go on sale Monday, August 1 at 12 noon PST. More info
RuPaul Recap: All Stars Season 7 Finale
Our Gay Desert Guide Drag Correspondent, Dante Noto, has published his “Finally the finale” recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7 (See all of his RuPaul Recaps here). There is one final runway, “Grand Finale Eleganza,” where the queens bring out their best, and then the Smackdown: multiple match-ups of Lip Sync battles for the Queen of all Queens title (as well as the the Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses crown). Read the full recap of Episode 12: Lip Sync LaLaPaRuZa Smackdown [here].
LGBTQ+ Youth Hangout
The LGBTQ Center of the Desert presents the LGBTQ+ Youth Virtual Hangout via Zoom and in person on Wednesdays at 2 pm. This hybrid hangout is hosted by Roman Lopez-Mojarras. If you or someone you know is between the ages of 14–20 and needs a safe space to connect with other LGBTQ+ youth, zoom by for a minute or longer! More info
Willie’s Broadway Block Party
Join Willie’s Broadway Block Party, happening every Wednesday night at 6:30 pm through Wednesday, August 17. for Musical Theatre University’s talented singers in a fully staged Broadway revue — and then grab a mic and join the show! The most unique open mic on the planet is right here at Willie’s Modern Fare in Rancho Mirage. Bring your sheet music and arrive by 6 pm to sign-in to sing. There will be a limited number of open mic singers each night. More info
FERRO Summer Music Festival
FERRO Italian restaurant in Idyllwild presents the FERRO Summer Music Festival, starting Tuesday, August 2 and continuing all month through Labor Day Weekend. Musicians from a variety of musical backgrounds will grace the outdoor stage, accompanied by refined Italian cuisine, cocktails, and cool mountain nights. With Jazz Nights, Blues & Soul, and Women in Jazz on Sundays, there will be music on Mondays, Tuesdays, and all three nights of the weekend. Access to the performances, and cocktails on the patio, are available without reservations or cover charge. (For restaurant seating, make a reservation). More info
Life is a Cabaret with Les Michaels
The Palm Springs Cultural Center has added Life is a Cabaret with Les Michaels to its weekly “Come On Up” series in the VIP Lounge on Wednesdays from 5–7:30 pm. Singers interested in participating in this open-mic can sign up beginning at 4:45 pm, please bring your sheet music! No cover. More info
Desert Blues Revival: Southwest Biscuit Company
Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs presents the Desert Blues Revival every Wednesday at 8 pm in the Cascade Lounge. On Wednesday, August 3, Southwest Biscuit Company takes the stage. Each week, come enjoy great bands playing Authentic Blues, Soul, R&B, and Rock from all over the globe right here in your backyard. Get tickets
Jazzville: Catina DeLuna y Otmaro Ruiz
Jazzville, the live jazz scene presented by Barry Martin/DJ Baz and Take Five, takes place at the vibrant Cascade Lounge inside Agua Caliente Casino in Palm Springs. Experience the hottest acts in jazz and step back in time to when all the cool cats came to play and put Palm Springs on the map! On Thursday, August 4 from 7–8:30 pm, Jazzville presents an amazing night of Brazilian jazz featuring vocalist Catina DeLuna and pianist Otmaro Ruiz with Larry Koonse and others. Cocktails, wine and delicious small bites will be available while bopping to the tunes of the evening. Get tickets
Theatre Thursday: Christopher Richardson
CVRep’s Theatre Thursdays are back “Live on Stage.” Come see a different cabaret, concert or entertaining event each Thursday at 7 pm, now through September 1. This week: On Thursday, August 4, it’s the debut of 23-year-old Christopher Richardson, presented by the PS International Piano Competition. Richardson’s program includes Chopin, Liszt, Stravinsky, Hirtz’ Fantasy on Arlen’s Wizard of Oz, Can’t Help Falling in Love, and the jazzy Uehara Tom and Jerry Show. See our event listing for the full lineup of performers through August! Order ahead and save with 5 shows for the price of 4. Get tickets
Greater Palm Springs Realtors Food Drive
The Greater Palm Springs Realtors (GPSR) are running a food drive to benefit The LGBTQ Center of the Desert’s Community Food Bank. Non-perishable food items are accepted at the GPSR office from 9 am–5 pm on Mondays and 8 am–5 pm on Tuesday–Friday. There will also be a special Saturday drop-off on Saturday, August 13 from 8 am–10 am. More info
PALS Death Cafe
They say “talking about death makes us feel good about living,” and this Thursday, August 4 from 2–3 pm, PALS (Planning Ahead for LGBTQ Seniors) presents their Death Cafe meeting on Zoom. This is a group-directed discussion of death with no agenda, specified topics, or designated outcomes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session. Just bring your curiosity and your thoughts/ideas about death or dying. More info
Taste of Summer Rancho Mirage Continues
Grab your friends and your passport to new adventures with Taste of Summer Rancho Mirage, running from now through Friday August 12. Come hungry! Taste of Summer Rancho Mirage is an annual tradition of sizzling specials and tantalizing treats for the community to enjoy. Participating restaurants run the gamut from Willie’s Modern Fare, Dickie’s Barbeque Pit, Las Casuelas Nuevas, Norma’s Italian Kitchen, and Haus of Poke, to Krispy Kreme, Brandini Toffee and many more. It not only helps local restaurants during slower months, your $10 wristband is also a fundraiser for local nonprofits. More info
THIS WEEKEND
Summer Sing-A-Long: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
The Summer Sing-a-Long series comes to a conclusion at the Palm Springs Cultural Center this weekend. On Saturday, August 6 the series comes full circle with Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Reprising their roles from Mamma Mia! The Movie are Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep as Donna, Julie Walters as Rosie and Christine Baranski as Tanya. Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper reunite as Sophie and Sky, while Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård and Oscar® winner Colin Firth return to play Sophie’s three possible dads. Come early for the Schmigadoon happy hour at 5 pm upstairs in the VIP Lounge. Head into the theater for the sing-a-long at 7 pm, with songleaders from the Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus! Get tickets
Outburst Project Opening Night Party
The Palm Springs Art Museum invites you to celebrate the second iteration of their artists-in-residency program, Outburst Projects, with an Opening Night Party on Saturday, August 6 from 6–10 pm. Join new artists-in-residence–Gabriela Ruiz, Karla Ekatherine Canseco, Maria Maea, Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, and Clara Nieblas–and experience their work in the museum’s galleries. Enjoy the music of three DJs: Coachella Valley’s Gallo Negro, LA’s GFUNKTRECE, and Boyle Heights’ Dj Sizzle—as well as appetizers, and a cash bar. Special reception for museum members starts at 5 pm. Get tickets
Oscar’s T-Dance Hot Summer Swimsuit Contest
Oscar’s is the “the scene of downtown Palm Springs” with their famous Sunday T-Dance, from 5–9 pm. It gets even hotter for the next month, as the T-Dance will include a Hot Summer Swimsuit Contest every week from now until Labor Day weekend. One winner will receive $250 in cash and prizes each Sunday! Then on Sunday September 4, a Grand Prize winner will win $1000 worth of cash and prizes. More info
Joshua Tree Summer Theatre Under the Stars
WindWalkers Medicine Wheel presents the closing weekend of an original play by Howard Shangraw, Tonight in Spoon River, running through Sunday, August 7. Based on Spoon River Anthology written by Edgar Lee Masters, the play takes place on a hillside cemetery where we meet the ghosts of the small fictional town Spoon River. Masters wrote the epitaphs of the dearly departed as a remembrance of the “fair, tender-hearted souls” he recalled from his home town of Lewiston, Ohio, where he lived as a young boy (and, ironically where his book was banned!). Get tickets
LOOKING AHEAD
Splash House August Weekend One
Splash House is back for two consecutive weekends in August; first up is Friday–Sunday, August 12–14, at the Saguaro, Renaissance, and Margaritaville Resort Hotels. Each resort is a full takeover hosting a poolside stage, rooms, and balconies that are all part of the fun. Desert days continue into the night for the After Hours series, dancing among the planes and under the stars at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Weekend One artists include Dabin, Dombresky, John Summit, Nora en Pure, Polo & Pan, Elohim and more. Get tickets
On the Air at KGAY 106.5
KGAY 106.5 and Gay Desert Guide have your passes to Splash House 2022, taking place August 12–14 & August 19–21. We’re giving away a pair of passes for each weekend, getting you into the host resorts, hopping on the festival shuttles for FREE and attending all the pool parties and performances during the day! Enter to win on the KGAY Contest Page
KGAY 106.5 and Gay Desert Guide also have have your chance to WIN tickets to Out on the Mountain at Six Flags Magic Mountain! The event takes place Friday, September 9 from 6 pm–midnight. The entire park goes gay for the night, which provides a safe and inclusive environment of fun for the LGBTQ community, with rides, dance parties, and performers. Enter to win on the KGAY Contest Page
Join all the handsome princes and evil queens at Gay Days Anaheim, courtesy of KGAY 106.5 and Gay Desert Guide! Gay Days takes place September 16–18 at Disneyland resort, a three-day weekend of parties, shows and events that make the happiest place on earth the gayest every year! [Click here] to find discounted hotels and park tickets along with a full schedule, and Enter to win tickets to Gay Days on the KGAY Contest Page
KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs is “The Pride of the Valley,” and you can show your Pride by proudly wearing our rainbow logo! Check out our selection of apparel and other items emblazoned with the best radio station call letters: KGAY! Shop now
The KGAY 106.5 Retro Lunch airs Monday through Friday at noon, with DJ Galaxy (Vincent Corrales) and DJ Eric Ornelas playing an hour of their high-energy throwback mixes. On Sundays, we put all five hours together for the Retro Sunday Brunch from 11 am–4 pm. Perfect pool party music! Listen Online
- Summer Sing-A-Long Series: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Sat. Aug 6 at 7 pm at the Palm Springs Cultural Center - Splash House August Weekend One
Aug 12–14 at the Saguaro, Renaissance, Margaritaville resorts + PS Air Museum - Boy George & Culture Club
Sat. Aug 20 at 8 pm at The Show at Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage - Splash House August Weekend Two
Aug 19–21 at the Saguaro, Renaissance, Margaritaville resorts + PS Air Museum - Out on the Mountain
Fri. Sep 9 from 6 pm–midnight at Six Flags Magic Mountain - Gay Days Anaheim 2022
Sep 16–18 at Disneyland Resort - Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend
Sep. 21–25 at Margaritaville Resort Palm Springs - Pride Under the Pines
Sat. Oct 1 from 12–9 pm in Idyllwild
Find out what’s happening on any given day by browsing our Gay Desert Guide Online Event Listing Calendar, and for the big picture, take a look at major upcoming events in our 2022 Coachella Valley Calendar of Events.
Listen to KGAY 106.5 over the air, stream it [here], or listen on TuneIn Radio with Alexa or Siri by saying “Play K-GAY 1065 from Tune In Radio.” John Taylor is on mornings 6–10 am and program director Chris Shebel is on afternoons. Our Retro Lunch with DJ Galaxy and DJ Eric Ornelas is now heard on Sundays as the Retro Lunch & Sunday Brunch from 11 am–4 pm.
Don’t miss “This Way Out,” Sundays at 6:30 a.m. on KGAY 106.5. “This Way Out” is the only internationally distributed weekly LGBTQ radio program, currently airing on some 200 local community radio stations around the world. Listen to the latest episode as a podcast on our streaming page (click “Podcasts” in the upper right hand corner)