Growing up in the Midwest, we knew snow and cold. Epic blizzards are as clear in my mind as the blue sky on a typical day in Palm Springs. My parents – along with most of the country – are experiencing one of those storms as Christmas approaches. Mom reports finding newspaper clippings from the blizzard of ‘78, when I was in college. She and dad were preparing for power outages, but luckily they have a wood stove and oil lamps if needed.
The weekend forecast for Palm Springs? Yep, Sunny and 80-ish. My friends at the chamber of commerce and the bureau of tourism know that the dichotomy between the two will make for some great press. We’ll have the highest temps in the country, and every weather forecaster will be sure to mention it.
Maybe Waterloo TV sportscaster Mark Woodley will be pulled back into weather duty this weekend. His reporting went viral this week as sporting events were canceled and he was thrust into spotlight with his reporting. He had to brave the Iowa cold to provide insipid weather reporting that one sees on The Weather Channel on a regular basis. Jerry Steffen and Patrick Evans watch out! I’m sure he’d rather have your jobs in Palm Springs where the weather is almost always delightful and rarely frightful!
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide & KGAY 106.5 Palm Springs
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Oscar’s Free Christmas Breakfast with KGAY Broadcasting LIVE
Oscar’s Downtown Palm Springs is hosting a FREE breakfast on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25 from 8–11 am. All are welcome and if you’d like to help you can donate NEW socks, t-shirts, toothbrushes and toothpaste, to be distributed that morning. KGAY 106.5 will be LIVE on site at Oscar’s during the event, with Morning Show host John Taylor and friends! [More info]. Meanwhile, KGAY will be playing Christmas music starting at 11 am with Ross Mathews‘ show on Saturday, December 24 and going all day Christmas Eve, and through the end of the Christmas Breakfast show! Between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s “More Music Week” as our Morning and Afternoon Show hosts take a much-deserved break, and KGAY will be playing extra songs!
Phillip K. Smith III: Light + Change Exhibit
The Palm Springs Art Museum presents Phillip K. Smith III: Light + Change in the main museum (now through May 7). The artist’s spectacular experiments with light and change are a perfect antidote to the darkest time of year! Presented throughout four galleries, this selection of free-standing objects, wall-mounted works, and immersive installations demonstrates the breadth of the artist’s mastery of his medium. Inspired by the daily light phenomena of the desert, many works slowly shift from hue to hue as determined by Phillip’s precisely paced color choreography. The museum is open Friday and Saturday (Christmas Eve) from 10 am–5 pm and closed Christmas Day. Get tickets
Wildlights at The Living Desert
Wildlights is at The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens on December 23 & 24, then wrapping up December 26–30. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Wildlights is a magical winter wonderland, complete with twinkling lights, dazzling light displays, and holiday fun, recognized in the Top 5 Best Zoo Lights by USA Today. Follow illuminated pathways on a journey around the Zoo with endless awe-inspiring sights and festive photo opportunities. Guests can go for a spin on the carousel, enjoy themed treats, take a free souvenir photo with Santa, and much more. In true WildLights tradition, the G-scale model trains, with more than 3,300 feet of track, will be decked out for the holidays. Advance reservations required. Get tickets
Ugly Sweater and Teddy Bear Toss Night with CV Firebirds
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are hosting an Ugly Sweater Night with Teddy Bear Toss on Friday, December 23 at 7 pm, presented by Anheuser-Busch. Bring a teddy bear (or any stuffed animal) to toss on the ice when the Firebirds score their first goal and they will be donated to kids in need of holiday cheer. For attendees, there will be a clear bag and magnet schedule giveaway. Also: Mark your calendar for CV Firebirds’ Pride Weekend: Saturday & Sunday, January 7 & 8, and listen to KGAY 106.5 for special Pride Weekend ticket prices and giveaways! More info
Streetbar Santa Party
Streetbar’s annual Santa Party and Costume Contest takes place Friday, December 23 from 6–8 pm. Your hostess will be Billy Wilson as Carol Channing, with DJ Mr. D (Joe de Hoyos). There will be prizes in four winning costume categories: Traditional, Gay Apparel, X-Mas Spirit, and Sexy Santa. More info
Western X-Mas Holiday Bear Retreat
Western X-mas: Holiday Bear Retreat takes place at CCBC in Cathedral City over the holiday weekend, from December 23–26. This is a home for the holidays for everyone needing one, whether you have nowhere to go, too many places to go, or just need a year off! Enjoy holiday cheer done the Western Xposure way: NAKED and full of food! Hang out all weekend at the pool, hot tubs, and steam rooms, plus a Sexy Santa Bar Night at The Barracks, a hot tub skinny dip pool party with DJ Marcos Moreno, with Christmas potluck and white elephant gift exchange game too. Get tickets
Mid-Century Moderns at Oscar’s
The hit Palm Springs 1960s jukebox musical Mid-Century Moderns is at Oscar’s this Friday, December 23 at 7:30 pm. The sensational hits of ‘66 come to life in the delightful tale of a plucky Wisconsin widow who transforms from frump to fabulous when she finds herself at the center of modernity in Palm Springs. Get tickets
Win Tickets to Boozehounds’ Studio 54 New Year’s Eve Party!
KGAY 106.5 wants you to WIN a pair of tickets into Boozehounds New Year’s Eve: Studio 54! This is the most stylish party celebrating the golden age of Disco…with a night at Studio 54. Get ready to hit the dance floor and dress for the era in your best disco attire! Tickets include: Premium Open Bar, Specialty Welcome Cocktail, Signature Small Bites, Dedicated Table & Service, DJ, Disco, Dancing & Midnight Toast! Enter to win on the KGAY 106.5 Contest Page
Palm Springs International Film Fest 2023 Tickets + Giveaway
The Palm Springs International Film Festival has released the lineup and schedule for the 2023 festival, which runs January 5–16. General Public ticket sales are open as of December 22 [More info]. Passes are also available, and KGAY 106.5 has your chance to WIN a 4-pack of passes! This is one of the largest film festivals in North America featuring twelve extraordinary days of screenings and special events with celebrity appearances and post screening discussions. Enter to win on the KGAY 106.5 Contest Page
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On the Air at KGAY 106.5
We’re kicking off 2023 with a new show on KGAY 106.5: The KGAY Sunday Tea Dance with DJ Modgirl starts Sunday, January 1 at 4 pm (right after the Retro Brunch) and continues every Sunday! DJ Modgirl (AKA Kellee McQuinn) is not only the life of the party, she’s also a cover girl on magazines and billboards, a television entertainer, and an award winning producer, director, lyricist and performer. Her moniker is “Music! Dancing! Fashion! Fun!” and she throws down the most irresistible, uplifting beats each week on the KGAY Sunday Tea Dance from 4–6 pm.
KGAY 106.5 has your tickets to the Freestyle Explosion Throwback Jam concert event on March 24, 2023 at Acrisure Arena! Performers include Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Taylor Dayne, The Cover Girls, Lil Suzy, The Jets, Trinere, Rob Base, Freestyle, and MC Shy D. Enter to win on the KGAY 106.5 Contest Page
Ross Mathews is back and gayer than ever! After a honeymoon hiatus, his popular weekly radio show on KGAY 106.5 airs on Saturdays from 11:00 am–2 pm. That’s 50% more Ross because now it’s a three-hour show! Ross is a part-time Palm Springs resident and currently working on The Drew Barrymore Show, RuPaul’s Drag Race and many other projects. He will bring celebrity gossip and news, plus a rundown of what’s happening each weekend in #ILoveGayPalmSprings as he plays some of his favorite dance hits each weekend on KGAY. Listen Online
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 party music! Listen Online
- Christmas Eve & Christmas Dinner with the Kevin Tokarz Trio
Sat. & Sun., Dec 24 & 25 at The Purple Room Supper Club - Boozehounds New Year’s Eve 2023: Studio 54
Sat. Dec 31 from 8 pm–1 am - Rock the Park: The Kings of Queen
Wed. Jan 4 at 7 pm at the Palm Springs Downtown Park - Palm Springs International Film Festival 2023
Jan 6–16 at various theaters in Palm Springs and Cathedral City - A Bright New Boise presented by Dezart Performs
Jan 13–22, 2023 at the Pearl McManus Theater - Modernism Week
Feb 16–26, throughout Palm Springs
Welcome New Partner!
Palm Mountain Resort & Spa is located in the heart of Palm Springs, offering scenic grounds with a newly renovated, perfectly chilled pool, sunning terrace, misters to keep you cool, a courtyard space ideal for gathering, fire pits and a new hot tub for cool evenings. Palm Mountain is also the ideal spot for a productive meeting, relaxing retreat, or intimate wedding. The resort’s indoor event space and spacious outdoor patio are ideal for gatherings of any kind. And don’t forget the fabulous onsite spa—or should we say spahhh. Learn more
- Gay or Nay? New LGBT Theater Company The Bent Ponders the President’s Sexuality With ‘The Lincoln Debate’
- 8 New Restaurants to Check Out This Season in Greater Palm Springs
- Hiking With T: The South Lykken Trail Is Near Downtown Palm Springs—yet It’s a World Away From Life’s Distractions
- ET’s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner to Co-Host 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala
- Modernism Week 2023 Offers Wide Range of Educational Programs and Films
Trevor Wayne Pop Art mines familiar references, drawing on totems of consumerism and mainstream entertainment that are well-known to American audiences including horror movies, Barbie dolls, reality television, and classic Hollywood cinema. In addition to paintings and prints, you can get Trevor Wayne’s art on greeting cards, mugs, hats, coasters, puzzles and more! With our HOT DEAL you can get $20 worth of gift cards at Trevor Wayne Gallery for only $12.50! Get Your Deal
We also have Hot Deals at Eight4Nine, V Wine Lounge, Il Giardino, Rick’s Restaurant, Grand Central, Boozehounds, Destination PSP, Kitchen 86, AMP Sports Lounge, Revel Public House, Giuseppe’s Pizzeria, Monster Shakes, Desert Mischief, Jolene’s and more! See All Deals
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.” Ross Mathews is on Saturdays from 11 am–2 pm, 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)