Desert: Plan On It

JANUARY

Palm Springs International Film Festival
Nearly 200 movies
Jan. 5-18. 

Wexler Weekend
A film, Palm Springs home tours, and shindigs to honor modernist architect Donald Wexler.
Jan. 22-24. 

FEBRUARY

Riverside County Fair & Date Festival
A teen Queen Scheherazade, a monster truck rally, livestock, and dates, dates, dates.
Feb. 12-21. 

Palm Springs Modernism Week 
A film series, a tribute to architect Albert Frey, a home tour, even a show with L.A. pop cultist Charles Phoenix. 
Feb. 12-20. 

2010 Spa Tour 
More than a dozen Desert Hot Springs spas are hosting.
Feb. 18. 

MARCH

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve 
Cars are allowed on the grounds.
Mar. 1. 

BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament 
The Grand Slam of the West comes to Indian Wells.
Mar. 8-21. 

Palm Springs Wild West Fest and PRCA Rodeo 
Chaps not required.
Mar. 12-14. 

Kraft Nabisco Championship
One of the four big LPGA tournaments lands at Mission Hills Country Club.
Mar. 29-Apr. 4.

Girlbar Dinah Shore Week 
Five days of sapphic parties in Palm Springs.
Mar. 31-Apr. 4. 

APRIL

Hilltoppers Motorcycle Wild West Grand Prix 
More than 1,300 racers kick up dust at the 29 Palms Motorsports Arena.
Apr. 3-4. 

White Party Spring Break 
Thousands of white-clad gay men boogie at the Palm Springs Convention Center. 
Apr. 9-12. 

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 
The lineup’s in flux, but what’s not: layaway tickets (sold until Feb. 15) and plans for easier car camping.
Apr. 16-18. 

Stagecoach Country Music Festival 
Coachella’s conclave for the Stetson set.
Apr. 24-25. 

JUNE

Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week
Discount prix fixe menus.
Jun. 4-13. 

Palm Springs ShortFest 
Films for the modern attention span.
Jun. 22-28. 

JULY

Badwater Ultramarathon 
The foot race spans 135 miles, nonstop from Death Valley to Mount Whitney in 120-degree heat. 
Jul. 12-14. 

SEPTEMBER

Millpond Music Festival 
Bluegrass, folk, and Cajun finger-pickin’ in Bishop.
Sept. 17-19. 

OCTOBER

Pioneer Days
Twenty-nine Palms’ annual festival.
Oct. 15-17. 

Highway 62 Art Tours 
Dozens of artist studios and galleries in the Morongo Basin open their doors.
Oct. 24, 25, 31; Nov. 1. 

NOVEMBER

Death Valley ’49ers Annual Encampment 
Cowboy poetry, lectures, gold panning, costumes, music—all in honor of the gold diggers who flocked here in 1849.
Nov. 10-14.