Modernism Week announces highlights for October fall festival in Palm Springs

Modernism Week has announced the schedule for its fall festival in Palm Springs, which will feature more than 50 events celebrating midcentury and modern architecture, art, interior and landscape design, and vintage culture from Oct. 16-19.

The four-day October festival will include both free and low-cost programs throughout the Palm Springs area. Event schedules become available online starting Friday, with tickets going on sale Aug. 1 at 12 p.m.

“We are so excited to continue sharing the momentum of our twentieth-year celebration with this popular fall version of our festival,” said Lisa Vossler Smith, CEO of Modernism Week. “We will continue to showcase new events and some of the most popular programs that have made Modernism Week in February so famous. Locals and visitors alike will enjoy our exciting line-up of home tours, iconic architecture, and entertaining parties.”

The festival’s featured home tour will showcase the Sackley Chase Sensation, a 1970s residence designed by Palm Springs architect Stan Sackley in 1976. The home was decorated by interior designer Steve Chase and recently updated by Grace Home Furnishings. The residence features Brutalist design elements, Italian natural travertine floors and expansive glass walls with views of the surrounding mountains and Indian Canyons golf course. Tours run all four days for $40.

Architectural bus tours, among the festival’s most popular offerings, will include the Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour for $130, providing an overview of Palm Springs’ most significant architectural treasures. Other bus tours include the Charles Phoenix Super Duper Double Decker Bus Tour ($160), Twilight Architectural Bus Tour ($100), and tours focusing on Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack homes and hangouts ($100).

New activities for the October festival include “100 Years of Palm Springs Modernism,” led by architectural tour guide Trevor O’Donnell in a 22-seat mini-coach for $130. The Palm Springs Paradise Home Tour will offer access to six residences celebrating bold design and desert style for $80.

The festival will also feature the Preview Party for Palm Springs Modernism Fall Show on Oct. 17 for $95, followed by the main show Oct. 18-19 for $25. The show will include nearly 50 national exhibitors offering vintage furniture, decorative and fine art representing design movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Special events include the “VIVA LAS VEGAS” show on Oct. 18 and 19 for $195, featuring performances by the Gand Band with Las Vegas-themed songs and a multi-course meal. The festival will also offer cocktail receptions, walking tours of downtown Palm Springs, and talks about Brutalist architecture and 1970s desert modernism.

Free events include an Art Architecture & Design Book Sale by the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, an Art District Tour, and the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars Dedication for Herbert W. Burns.

The October event serves as a smaller companion to the organization’s signature 11-day festival, which will return Feb. 12-22, 2026. Tickets for the February festival will be available starting Nov. 1 at 12 p.m., with event schedules viewable online beginning Oct. 25.

Modernism Week operates as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides scholarships to local Palm Springs students pursuing college educations in architecture and design. The organization also provides grants to local and state organizations working to preserve modernist architecture throughout California.

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