• The Palm Springs International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (“ShortFest”) present movie star-filled, red-carpet affairs in January and June respectively.
• Modernism Week, in February, is an 11-day event featuring mid-century modern architecture through films, lectures, tours and its Modernism Show & Sale. A four-day Modernism Week Preview is held in mid-October.

The Palm Springs Black History Committee celebrates Black History Month with a parade and town fair every February.

• Agua Caliente Cultural Museum presents its annual Festival of Native Film & Culture at the Camelot Theaters in central Palm Springs.
• The Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend, known as “The Dinah”, is a LGBT event billed as the “Largest Girl Party in the World” held each March.
• A circuit White Party is held in April, attracting 10,000 visitors.
• The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, co-sponsored by the Palm Springs Cultural Center, is held in May with screenings at the Camelot Theater.
• Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week is held every June, featuring 10 days of dining at over 100 restaurants in the Coachella Valley.
• The Caballeros, a gay men’s chorus and member of GALA Choruses, has presented concerts since 1999.

The following three parades, held on Palm Canyon Drive, were created by former Mayor Will Kleindienst:

• Palm Springs Annual Homecoming Parade is held on the Wednesday prior to the Friday night Palm Springs High School Homecoming Game.
• The city sponsors a Veterans Day parade, concert and fireworks display since 1996. It is one of 54 US Department of Veterans Affairs designated Regional Sites for the national observance of Veterans Day.
• Since 1992 the Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade is held on the first Saturday of December.

Ongoing cultural events[edit]

For many years, The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies was a stage-show at the historic Plaza Theatre featuring performers over the age of 55. Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies is a 1997 Mel Damski short documentary film about the Follies. The Palm Springs Follies closed for good after the 2013-14 season.

Starting in 2004, the city worked with downtown businesses to develop the weekly Palm Springs VillageFest. The downtown street fair has been a regular Thursday evening event, drawing tourists and locals alike to Palm Canyon Drive to stroll amid the food and craft vendors.

Events related to films and film-craft are sponsored by the Desert Film Society.

• Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
  • Agua Caliente Cultural Museum^] (presently located downtown at the Village Green)
  • Indian Canyons (Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon, Murray Canyon)
  • Tahquitz Canyon, wildlife area and one-time staging place for the outdoor “Desert Plays” in the 1920s
  • Tahquitz Falls, 60 foot waterfall used as a scene in Frank Capra‘s 1937 film, Lost Horizon.
  • Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage
  • Spa Resort Casino, which is based on the original hot springs of the town
• Forever Marilyn sculpture by Seward Johnson in downtown Palm Springs (presently in New Jersey for a Seward Johnson exhibition)
• Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium
• Palm Springs Historical Society Museums (and Village Green)
  • Miss Cornelia White’s “Little House” (railroad ties from the defunct Palmdale Railroad were used to build the house)
  • The McCallum Adobe – the oldest remaining building, built in 1884
  • Ruddy’s General Store Museum – a 1930s general store
• Palm Springs Air Museum – located at the Palm Springs International Airport
• Palm Springs Art Museum – originally developed as the Desert Museum
  • Annenberg Theater
• Palm Springs Walk of Stars
• San Jacinto Mountains
  • Cactus to Clouds Trail – leads from the Art Museum to San Jacinto Peak
  • Mount San Jacinto State Park
  • Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
  • Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument
• Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert – in Rancho Mirage
• Living Desert Zoo and Gardens – in Palm Desert, California
• Joshua Tree National Park
  • Little San Bernardino Mountains

Numerous galleries and studios are located in the city and region. The California Art Club has a chapter in Palm Springs. The Desert Art Center of Coachella Valley was established in Palm Springs in 1950.

• Delos Van Earle’s “Jungle Red” (Warm Sands neighborhood)