How to Spend Memorial Day Weekend in Palm Springs Area

There are plenty of offerings from music, movies, and dance to patriotic events

JIM POWERS Arts & Entertainment

 

More than 30 million people are expected to hit the roads for the Memorial Day weekend, the second highest traffic volume for the long weekend since 2000, according to the American Automobile Association.

But if you're saving your vacation days for another time, there is plenty to do in the Greater Palm Springs area to keep you busy. In fact, Huffington Post named Palm Springs as one of its 6 Great Memorial Day Getaways.

In no particular order, here are some suggestions.

Foodies
Let's start with food. Tacos & Tequila at Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa are offering all sorts of specials ranging from its signature margarita for $5 to a taco combo for $7, and there will be a resident DJ on hand after 9 p.m. May 23-24.

The American Legion Owen Coffman Post 519 in Palm Springs cooks up an All-American Barbecue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 26.

Movies
Grease director Randal Kleiser will take questions after the screening of the classic John Travolta-Olivia Newton John movie May 22 at Cinemas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert. Kleiser also directed The Blue Lagoon, Flight of the Navigator, Big Top Pee-Wee and White Fang.

The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert offers Walkabout at 5:30 p.m. May 23. A pair of siblings find themselves abandoned in the Australian outback where they meet an Aborigine boy who is on his "walkabout", a rite of passage where he must journey on his own and survive the cruel desert.

Red, White & Blue
It's an amazing spectacle to see 3,000 red and white carnations drop from a B-25 bomber as it flies over the Palm Springs Air Museum at 1 p.m. May 26. Music and World War II reenactors round out the day. Read out the event's history.

The Veterans Success Center at Cal State San Bernardino will conduct a service for fallen veterans May 23 on the front patio of the Palm Desert Health Building. RSVP required. A 21-gun salute and taps will be played by the American Legion Post 519 of Palm Springs.

Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs will conduct Memorial Day Services May 26. Cathedral City begins at 9 a.m. at Desert Memorial Park, 31705 Da Vall Drive. Presentation colors will be performed by the Palm Springs High School Air Force JROTC followed by a Memorial Day address. In Desert Hot Springs, the service begins at 10 a.m. at Veteran's Memorial Park located at the corner of Palm Drive and Mission Lakes Boulevard.

Just Play it Cool
A new name has brought a new attraction to Wet 'n' Wild, the outdoor water park in Palm Springs. You'll want to try the new Flow Rider, a wave machine that creates an endless wave for riders.

Turn Up the Volume
The Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs has brought in DJ Ladypills in from LA May 23 though his roots are in New Zealand. Hot Pacific DJs take over May 24 while DJ D Rad spins poolside May 26. At Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash perform a free concert May 23 at 7:30 p.m. followed by The Allah Las/FD + The Hot Pacific band and The Tyde plus more starting at 11:30 p.m. Chris Robinson Brotherhood visit May 24 and Panda Bear entertains May 26.

At the Casinos
Maxwell, a two-time Grammy winner, will take the stage May 24 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio; Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella welcomes a Mariachi Extravaganza featuring three premiere mariachi bands; and for something complete different, Theresa Caputo, a practicing medium for more than a decade who parlayed it into a hit TV show, Long Island Medium, will appear at the Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage.

Gotta Dance
CK Dance Company in Palm Springs puts on two shows of Swan Lake, May 23-24, at the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Josh King, who performed on So You Think You Can Dance, will be featured.

Like what you're reading? Then "Like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter.