| | Third week of swim lessons and Orion did his first big jump yesterday. Went in on his own, came up, wanted to go again, and again, and again. | School is back in session and there seems to be a bug going around out here. Wash your hands. Stay hydrated. You know what to do. | Went to Saguaro Coffee yesterday and restocked on beans so I can keep making cold brew at home. Got the pistachio iced latte, which is seasonal, and the La Palma bagel. They make the bagels from scratch and they are amazing! I’ll end up working through their entire menu, and this was bagel number two. | |  | Family flavors: Strawberry, Splash Like A House, and Snix |
| | I have come to terms with the fact that sending the newsletter weekly is doable for me currently versus a specific day. It goes out every week, I like making it, and I hope you have been enjoying it. | Scroll all the way down this week. TEDx Rancho Mirage is free on Tuesday, and Sarah's Sends is fresh for your viewing pleasure. | Anyway, onto the issue. |
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| | City Happenings | Avenue 44 street work starts Friday Improvements run along the north side of Avenue 44 between Aztec Street and Golf Center Parkway from August 21 through September 9. Traffic in both directions may drop to one lane at times, so give yourself a few extra minutes if that's your route into Indio. | Cathedral City parks are getting reseeded The Desert Recreation District's fall reseeding schedule means several Cathedral City parks will close temporarily while crews prep the fields. Check the schedule before you load up the car for practice. | 85 Jiu Jitsu opens in Coachella Ribbon cutting is Saturday 9/5, 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at 48220 Jackson Street Ste A2. Matcha from La Casa Verde, pastries from Con Amor Nina y Leon and Buenas Empanadas, raffles, and an open mat if you want to actually roll. Food and drinks are on the house. |
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| | Business Happenings | Tamale Festival vendor applications are open The Indio International Tamale Festival returns to Downtown Indio December 5 and 6, and applications are live now for both established businesses and home based vendors. If you've been told for years that your tamales are the best in the family, this is your moment. |
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| | Events This Week | Know of an event happening August 25th or later? Let me know. | If you go to something you see in here, reply and tell me about it. That helps me know what's worth putting in front of you. | Thursday 8/20 | Free gelato in the afternoon and free music after. | Scoop of Support
3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Cambria Gallery, 42210 Cook Street Suite M, Palm Desert, free
Desert YPN's second annual afternoon of gelato and giving. La Dolce Piccola is scooping until they run out, and donations get you raffle tickets. Six local nonprofits are set up with booths including Gear It Forward, House of Hope, NHORA, OneFuture Coachella Valley, the Ophelia Project, and Rancho 3 Agavez. Free, open to everybody, bring the kids. | By six thirty songwriters take over Indio. | Desert Beat: Southwestern Songwriters Showcase
6:30 PM to 9:00 PM, The Dune Room, 82707 Miles Avenue, Indio, no cover, all ages
Brad Parker hosts this one every third Thursday and the lineup this month is deep: Juliette Tworsey, Lorna Adams, Danni Stefanetti, Roger Saloom, Courtney Chambers, Derek J Gregg, Jimmy Steinfeldt, and John Kalb. Acoustic, no cover, all ages. | | | Friday 8/21 | Friday opens quiet in Coachella and ends with Big Freedia in Pioneertown. Pace yourself accordingly. | Cook Up a Healthier Future: Nutritional Cooking Class for Seniors
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM, Bagdouma Park Community Center, 51251 Douma Street, Coachella
Hands on cooking class built for older adults. Simple recipes, practical kitchen skills, and a room full of people getting together. | At six the valley pulls in three directions, and one of them involves a weighted eye mask. | RESONANCE: An Immersive Sound and Light Journey
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, The Light Room at Desert Integrative Wellness, 45190 Club Drive, Indian Wells
Crystal singing bowls, gongs, and chimes played live, paired with a full room light immersion and a guided relaxation. Everybody gets a weighted eye mask to keep. It's a small group on purpose, so this one will cap out. | Plant Bingo Night
6:00 PM, The Indio Brewing Company, 82900 Avenue 42 Unit G111, Indio, $20 or $30 with a beer
Bingo where the prizes are plants. Twenty bucks gets you in, thirty gets you in with a beer, and you leave with something green that is now your responsibility. | Fatso Jetson, Mighty Jack, and Ryan Güt the Shastafarian
7:00 PM, The Dune Room, 82707 Miles Avenue, Indio, $15 presale or $20 door, all ages
Fatso Jetson is desert rock and they are playing a room in Indio for fifteen dollars. Mighty Jack and Ryan Güt the Shastafarian open. All ages. | After nine, pick a dance floor. | Big Freedia
Doors 8:30 PM, show 9:30 PM, Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown, $42 to $48, all ages
The Big Freedom Tour lands in Pioneertown and Pappy's says tickets are moving. Bounce music in a cowboy bar in the middle of the high desert is exactly the kind of thing this valley does well. | Silent Disco: Battle of the DJs
9:00 PM to 12:00 AM, Palm Springs Surf Club, Palm Springs, $40, 21+
Three channels, three DJs, one set of headphones, and you decide who's winning. The Surf Club setting makes it, and the standing joke about silent discos holds: it's very funny to take the headphones off for a second. | | | Saturday 8/22 | Saturday is the one to plan around. Start at the market before the heat gets serious. | Palm Springs Certified Farmers' Market
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, The Palm Springs Pavilion, 401 S Pavilion Way, Palm Springs
Summer location, so it's indoors at the Pavilion through September before it moves back to the Cultural Center in October. Produce, bread, cheese, flowers, honey, and prepared food. Air conditioning included. | At three, Judy Garland's granddaughter takes the Plaza stage. | The Wizard of Oz with Vanessa O'Neil
3:00 PM, Plaza Theatre, Palm Springs, tickets from $20
Vanessa O'Neil, Judy Garland's granddaughter and the person behind the Judy Garland Estate social platforms, introduces the film and sticks around for a Q&A. | After dark it comes down to Zamrock up the hill or a house set in Indio. | WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) with Brainstory
Doors 8:30 PM, show 9:30 PM, Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown, $34 to $39, all ages
The Zambian Zamrock band that got rediscovered decades after the fact and now tours the world, presented by folkYEAH!. Brainstory opens, which is a real double bill. | Less Is More
9:00 PM to 2:00 AM, The Dune Room, 82707 Miles Avenue, Indio, $20, 18+
Grahm Radio, Ruben Diaz, Vinnce, and Pedro Torres running it until two. This is the one night this week the Dune Room goes 18 and over. | | | Sunday 8/23 | The Dune Room runs Sunday twice, once with coffee and once with a wall of amps. | Café Rumba Latin Day Party
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, The Dune Room, 82707 Miles Avenue, Indio, no cover, all ages
Every Sunday, no cover, all ages, and it's over by two so it doesn't eat your whole day. Coffee and Latin music in Indio before it gets hot. | Smoked 909, Barrio Slam, and Humanicide
6:00 PM, The Dune Room, 82707 Miles Avenue, Indio, $10 advance or $15 door, all ages
Hardcore and thrash with local support from Pay Your Way and XrecoilX, presented by Hotstuff Booking. All ages, ten bucks in advance. | Pioneertown closes the weekend quiet and heavy. | Steve Von Till with Six Organs of Admittance and Semantron
Doors 8:00 PM, show 9:00 PM, Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown, $0 to $30, all ages
Neurosis guitarist playing his solo material, which is slow and dark and made for a room like this. Local keychain holders get in free, which is the best standing perk in the valley. | | | Monday 8/24 | Monday is open mic and nothing else, and that is the correct amount of Monday. | Open Mic Night with Desert Nick
Sign-ups 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, performances 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown, free, all ages
Free, all ages, three hours of whoever shows up. Sign-ups close at seven so get there early if you're playing. | | | Tuesday 8/25 | A TED stage is not what Tuesday usually offers, but here we are, second year running. | TEDxRanchoMirage 2026: Under the Same Sky
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, doors 6:00 PM, Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory, 71-100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage, free
Second year for this one, and the five speakers were picked out of 499 submissions from around the world. Prema Walker on turning food waste into food abundance, Ivan Borzenko on a 320 mile triathlon and why limits are learned, Dr. Romi Ran on the gap between what you're experiencing and what's happening, Dr. Lynda Reid on grief, and Dr. Carl Christman on how to read minds. Free, and these programs hit capacity, so arrive early. | |
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| | Kids and Family | Bingo by the Book
Friday 8/21, 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, Indio Library, Indio, free, all ages
Bingo where the squares are book covers instead of numbers. Match them, find something new to read, maybe walk out with a prize. Free and it's done in an hour. | Open Cockpit Saturday: Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV
Saturday 8/22, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs
They open up a different aircraft every Saturday morning and this week it's the Spitfire. Kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult, and the museum has more than 75 aircraft across five hangars if you want to make a morning of it. | Back to School Day at 1/2SIES CO.
Saturday 8/22, 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM, 1/2SIES CO., 50921 Washington Street Ste C-1, La Quinta, free
Doughnuts, stickers, school supplies, raffles, and giveaways ahead of the first week back. |
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| | Ongoing | Palm Desert Aquatic Center summer schedule
Through September, Palm Desert Aquatic Center, Palm Desert
The waterpark is weekends only for the rest of the season. Lap swimming, lessons, and water exercise run Monday through Friday 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and weekend lap swim is 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. | SK8 Academy
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8/12 through 10/3, Berger Foundation Iceplex, Palm Desert
The seven week session starts today. Skating instruction for beginners on up. | Desert Recreation District fall registration is open
Sessions start September, various locations
The fall block is up at MyRecreationDistrict.com and it's a lot: Gentle Yoga on Thursdays at Bermuda Dunes, Mat Pilates on Mondays and Dance and Movement for Parkinson's on Wednesdays at La Quinta, Better Brain and Balance for ages 55 to 85 on Tuesdays, Youth Kickball for ages 6 to 10 in September and October, and Youth Chess for ages 8 to 14 starting September 24. Most of these fill, and most start the week after Labor Day. |
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| | Now Showing | | | Coyote vs Acme
Mary Pickford, Thursday 8/20 at 7:20 PM. Wile E. Coyote finally lawyers up and sues Acme. This one sat on a shelf for years and people fought hard to get it released, so I'm rooting for it. | Castle in the Sky 40th Anniversary
Studio Ghibli Fest at the Mary Pickford, Saturday 8/22 and Sunday 8/23 at 1:00 PM and Monday 8/24 at 7:30 PM. Miyazaki's floating castle movie on the big screen. Take the kids to the matinee or go by yourself Monday night, both are correct. | Tony
Regal Rancho Mirage and Festival Theaters, all week. Nineteen year old Anthony Bourdain lands in Provincetown and falls into a restaurant kitchen for the summer that made him. If you read Kitchen Confidential, this is that summer. | Mutiny
Regal Rancho Mirage and Mary Pickford, all week. Guy watches his billionaire boss get murdered, gets framed for it, and boards a cargo ship for revenge. Then it turns into an international conspiracy, because of course it does. | Late Fame
Festival Theaters, Friday 8/21 through Tuesday 8/25. A forgotten New York poet gets rediscovered by a group of young creatives and starts writing again. Festival is the right theater for this one. | The Fast and the Furious 25th Anniversary
Regal Rancho Mirage, all week. Twenty five years?! Nobody involved thought this would become ten more movies and… a space chapter. Go watch the one that started it. | The Magic Faraway Tree
Regal Rancho Mirage and Mary Pickford, all week. Family moves to the country, kids find a magic tree with weird neighbors living in it. Solid matinee pick if you've got kids and it's 110 outside. |
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| | The Oasis | Happenings that are here to serve you and worth knowing about. | Cooling Centers
Four locations, free to the public, through October 15
Palm Desert Community Center, 43-900 San Pablo Avenue (Monday to Friday 6 AM to 9 PM, Saturday 9 AM to 2 PM). Mecca Community Center, 65-250 Coahuilla Street (Monday to Thursday 9 AM to 1 PM). North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, 99-155 Sea View Drive (Monday to Friday 8 AM to 12 PM and 4 PM to 8 PM). Jerry Rummonds' Community Center, 87-229 Church Street, Thermal (Monday to Thursday 9 AM to 1 PM). | Joshua Tree is fee free on Tuesday
Tuesday 8/25, all day, Joshua Tree National Park
The National Park Service turns 110 and every park in the country drops its entrance fee for the day. Worth the trip and it's the one day you don't pay the gate. | Library Flow yoga at the Indio Library
Saturday 8/22, Indio Library, Indio, free
Bring a mat, they bring the room. Free. Check the library's page for the start time, it wasn't printed on the flyer. | Riverside Legal Aid Pro-Se Litigant Clinic
Ongoing, Riverside and Coachella Valley
If you're representing yourself in court, attorneys walk you through the bankruptcy and federal court process for free. No appointment needed and early arrival helps. Clinics are closed on court and federal holidays. Call (951) 682-7968 for the current schedule. | Free play at the Indio Library
Ongoing, Indio Library, Indio, free
The library posted a reminder that their little kid play area is free and open. Not an event, just a place to take a toddler that costs nothing and has air conditioning. |
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| | Plan Ahead | A few things worth getting on your calendar now. | Hey Arnold tickets go on sale Friday
On sale Friday 8/21 at 10:00 AM, show is Monday 10/26, Pappy & Harriet's, Pioneertown
The Music of Hey Arnold with original composer Jim Lang, The PS 118 AllStars, and series creator Craig Bartlett. Doors 8:00 PM, show 9:00 PM, all ages, indoors. Pappy's says these will move, and I believe them. | Anime Club at the Coachella Library
Saturday 9/5, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, Coachella Library, 1500 Sixth Street, Coachella, ages 13+
Screening of "You and I are Polar Opposites" plus snacks and a craft. Teens only on this one. | Esperanza Rising community weaving
Saturday 9/12, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Esperanza Park, Cathedral City
Bilingual community art project from Scrap Gallery, weaving stories together with color and texture. Free morning in the park. | Coachella's lowrider show is set for November 7 The RWLM Car Show rolls into Dateland Park with cash prizes and free entry, roll-in at 3 PM. Registration is open now if you've got something worth showing off. |
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| | | Closing Note | That's the week! | Look at the time… | Time to watch the latest episode of SILO. I love this show. | See you next week. 🌴 | | | | | | P.S. Want to get your business in front of local Coachella Valley residents? Reach out to partner with The Desert Letter. | | | |
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