Palm Springs was well represented at Gay Wine Weekend in Sonoma. This is travel time for many locals, but the fun never stops here. And we never stop covering it! It’s impressive how much great live entertainment can be had “off season” from the new “Willie’s Broadway Block Party” to Jazzville and even some blues.
Don’t forget to come out Wednesday to The Roost and support our backpack drive!
Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide & KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs
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KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs and Gay Desert Guide’s Backpack Drive
On Wednesday, July 20, meet some of your favorite KGAY radio personalities at the KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs and Gay Desert Guide Backpack Drive between 5–7 pm at The Roost Lounge. Please donate a backpack to benefit Coachella Valley Schools. You will receive a free drink token as well as helping the valley’s kids! More info
RuPaul Recap: All Stars Season 7, Episode 10
Our Gay Desert Guide Drag Correspondent, Dante Noto, has published his latest glowing recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7 (See all of his RuPaul Recaps here). This week the queens are challenged to roast each other in the “Kennedy Davenport Center Honors Hall of Shade,” and on the runway, the category is “All Glowed Up.” Find out which two queens came out on top this week as we fast approach the finale, just two episodes away! Read the full recap of Episode 10: The Kennedy Davenport Center Honors Hall of Shade [here].
Marilyn Movies in the Park
The Palm Springs Cultural Center presents Movies in the Park on Wednesday, July 20 at 8 pm with another iconic Marilyn Monroe film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This is the first annual outdoor summer pop-up film series at the new downtown park in Palm Springs, and will conclude with Some Like it Hot on August 17. Appearing at each screening are The Marilyns of Palm Springs, a local Marilyn-centric performance troupe led by Miss DD Starr of the Palm Springs School of Burlesque. The Marilyns will be on hand for photos and fun before each screening. 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! More info
Willie’s Broadway Block Party
Join Willie’s Broadway Block Party every Wednesday night this summer (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 sing-in to sing. There will be a limited number of open mic singers each night. More info
Forest Lawn Presents Peace of Mind
The LGBTQ Center of the Desert and Forest Lawn present Peace of Mind on Tuesday, July 19 from 10–11 am. Join Oliver Whitlock at The Center in Palm Springs for a presentation on what you need to know on the benefits of planning for end-of-life ahead of time. More info
HIV and the Effects on the Bones & Brain
Eisenhower Health Series and the The LGBTQ Center of the Desert present HIV and the Effects on the Bones and Brain on Wednesday, July 20 from 4–5 pm via Zoom. Join Cyril Gaultier, MD, for an informative discussion around medications, HIV itself, overall blood flow issues related to brain activity, and HIV medication’s bone related issues. More info
Speaker Series: Wine Tasting at Mizell
The Mizell Center presents its 3rd Wednesday Speaker Series: Wine Tasting @ Mizell on Wednesday, July 20 from 6–7:30 pm. Enjoy an evening of wines from around the world. Your assignment: Swirl. Smell. Sip. Repeat. This special program will be led by Certified Sommelier Jen Carter. With over twenty years experience in the restaurant business, Jen developed a passion for great food and wine at an early age. She studied wine at UCLA and at immersion programs in Napa, Sonoma and Oregon. Jen became a certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2007. Reserve your spot early. More info
Taste of Summer Rancho Mirage
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 State Fare at the Ritz-Carlton, Willie’s Modern Fare, Las Casuelas Nuevas, and Haus of Poke, to Krispy Kreme and many more. It not only helps local restaurants during slower months, your $10 wristband is also a fundraiser for local nonprofits. More info
Speaking of dining out, there are many joys of dining out in the desert during the summer: specials like the Taste of Summer (above), dining outdoors under water spray misters, and oftentimes reservations are less necessary when things are less busy in the off-season. However, make sure you check ahead on social media or their website to make sure the restaurant you’re planning to visit has not taken a summer hiatus!
OutFest LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the 2022 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival kicked off Thursday, July 14 and will continue through Sunday, July 24. The world’s leading LGBTQ+ festival returns with outdoor events, indoor screenings for vaccinated attendees, and also available via streaming for those who wish to experience the festival from their own home. The festival provides both the community and creators opportunities to participate in various events, workshops, masterclasses, and panels, both to provide networking opportunities and filmmaker development. Get tickets
Desert Blues Revival: Adryon de León
Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs presents the Desert Blues Revival every Wednesday at 8 pm in the Cascade Lounge. On Wednesday, July 20, Adryon de León 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: Nutty
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, July 21 from 7–8:30 pm, it’s Nutty, a hard-swingin’ jazz octet that weaves intricate interpretations of pop and rock classics onto a jazz canvas, using straight-ahead jazz, big band swing, crime/spy jazz, Latin, bebop and classic film and TV themes as the soundtrack. Cocktails, wine and delicious small bites will be available while bopping to the tunes of the evening. Get tickets
Theatre Thursday: Lynda Kay
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, July 21, it’s Lynda Kay the Mod Way. Our theatre reviewer Stephen Radosh has a look at some highlights of this series [here], and see our event listing for the full lineup of performers! Order ahead and save with 5 shows for the price of 4. Get tickets
THIS WEEKEND
The Essence of Whitney
The Show at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage presents Gennine Francis in The Essence of Whitney on Friday, July 22 at 8 pm. Gennine Francis has been singing at venues in Palm Springs since 2002 and she quickly became known as the singer who looks and sounds like Whitney Houston. Shortly after Whitney’s passing, it became evident that she should consider doing a Whitney Houston Tribute. By this time, Gennine had built quite a following. Fast forward to today and she now has one of the best Whitney tributes in the country. Get tickets
Summer Sing-A-Long: Annie
The Summer Sing-a-Long series is back at the Palm Springs Cultural Center with returning favorites and new classics. On Saturday, July 23 the series continues with Annie, the musical about a fiery young orphan girl who must live in a miserable orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett!). Annie’s situation changes when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy Oliver Warbucks, whose offer to help Annie find her long-lost parents inadvertently puts Annie in great danger. 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 leading the out-loud voices! The series continues for two more Saturdays: July 30 with Little Shop of Horrors, and August 6 with Mamma Mia 2! Get tickets
The Carol Burnett Show Live on Stage
Desert Theatreworks is presenting a “summer full of fun” with shows on Sundays. The July production is The Carol Burnett Show Live on Stage on July 24, & 31, with performances at 2 pm. “The Carol Burnett Show” ran for 11 years and is known as one of the most brilliant television shows of all time. You’ll love this opportunity to see some of the best classic comedy sketches from the program re-created for the stage performed by some of DTW’s favorite performers. Get tickets
Joshua Tree Summer Theatre Under the Stars
WindWalkers Medicine Wheel presents an original play by Howard Shangraw, Tonight in Spoon River, opening Friday, July 22 and running for nine performances 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
Brothers of the Desert Book Club
The Brothers of the Desert Book Club (BODBC) is offering members and allies an opportunity to meet bi-monthly to discuss their community’s literary history, meeting on Zoom twice a month: the second and fourth Saturday afternoons, this weekend on Saturday, July 23 at 3 pm. The selection for July and August is All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson. This series of personal essays by Johnson, a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist, explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. The BODBC is more than a book club, it’s a social and networking event as well as an opportunity to become better individuals and be the change you want to see in the world. More info
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
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: Annie
Sat. Jul 23 at 7 pm at the Palm Springs Cultural Center - The Roost Lounge Presents Christmas in July
Jul 5–24 (KGAY/Gay Desert Guide Backpack Drive: Wed. Jul 20) - The Carol Burnett Show Live on Stage
July 24 & 31 at Desert Theatreworks - Boy George & Culture Club
Sat. Aug 20 at 8 pm at The Show at Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage - Out on the Mountain
Fri. Sep 9 from 6 pm–midnight at Six Flags Magic Mountain
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)