8 Best Performing Arts in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

The annual multiday festival draws hundreds of thousands of rock, EDM, and hip-hop fans to the Empire Polo Club grounds each April for two weekends of live music, DJ sets, Ferris wheel rides, large-scale art installations, and field dinners prepared by top chefs. Headliners have included acts such as Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Beyonce, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, and Radiohead. Attendees can shuttle in or camp on-site in their car, in tents, or in prefab safari studios.

New in 2022, this 300,000-plus-square-foot entertainment and sports venue has an 11,000-person capacity; an adjoining community ice skating facility; and multiple bars, restaurants, and portable food carts including Pizza by Giada De Laurentiis and Shaq’s Big Chicken. In its inaugural year, it hosted concerts by the likes of Sting, Luis Miguel, Stevie Nicks, and Dierks Bentley, as well as Cirque du Soleil performances. It's also the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, an American Hockey League team affiliated with the Seattle Kraken. Other events held here have included WWE matches, monster-truck rallies, and preseason NBA games.

More than 200 artists participate each March in a four-day juried show that's considered one of the best in the West. The event, held at La Quinta Civic Center, includes sculptures, paintings, watercolors, fiber art, and ceramics.

This tri-level theater hosts productions—a mix of Broadway plays, concerts, classical revues, and comedy shows—from late fall through spring.

Each February the desert communities celebrate the work of the architects and designers who created the Palm Springs "look" in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. Described these days as mid-century modern—you'll also see the term "desert modernism" used—these structures were created by Albert Frey, Richard Neutra, William F. Cody, John Lautner, and other notables. The 11-day event features lectures, a modernism show, films, vintage car and trailer shows, galas, and home and garden tours. A shorter preview week happens in October.

In mid-January, this 12-day festival brings campaigning Oscar hopefuls and nearly 200 feature films from several dozen countries, plus panel discussions and documentaries, to various venues around town. The weeklong ShortFest, North America's largest short film fest and market, takes place in June. The Film Society that sponsors it also hosts one-off cinematic events throughout the year. 

In late March, when the world's finest female golfers hit the links for the Annual LPGA ANA Inspiration Championship in Rancho Mirage, thousands of lesbians converge on Palm Springs for a four-day party popularly known as The Dinah.

Held during spring break, the White Party draws tens of thousands of gay men from around the world for four days of parties and events.