Modernism Week, which took place during 11 days in mid-February in and around Palm Springs, drew tens of thousands of attendees who purchased nearly 100,000 tickets to more than 350 events, organizers reported Tuesday.
In addition, the event’s economic impact was estimated at $50.7 million for area hotels, shops, restaurants, and other local businesses from Palm Springs to Indian Wells and beyond.
While tickets sales were down compared to previous years (162,000 in 2020 and 152,000 in 2019), organizers said Tuesday that was by design. As one of the first major festivals to resume programing following the restrictions of the pandemic, this year’s Modernism Week featured fewer large gatherings and reduced capacity for most events which resulted in a slightly smaller but higher-quality experience.
“We took the precautions of limiting event sizes and many of the 350 programs were held outdoors,” said William Kopelk, Modernism Week Board Chairman. “We’re pleased that our attendees continued to learn about midcentury modern design, architecture and culture regionally, nationally and internationally.”
As with past events, the festival again offered attendees the opportunity to participate in home tours, parties, and architectural bus excursions in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, and Indian Wells.
“Modernism Week continues to help brand the entire Coachella Valley as a mecca for design, preservation, modernism and architecture, which has a year-round influence on the valley’s tourism and international stature,” Kopelk added.
Modernism Week attendees came from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with California accounting for the majority of attendees (approximately 43.5%). Attendees came from 450 of 482 cities in California, or 93% of all California cities. Locally, the Coachella Valley represented 37% of tickets sold in California. In addition, the event was popular with attendees from Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. Attendees also came from across the globe with 20 countries represented, including Canada, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Japan and many more.
The Palm Springs Modernism Show & Modern Design Expo, which celebrated its 22nd year, also saw robust attendance numbers. More than 16,500 people attended the sale at the Palm Springs Convention Center, up nearly 10% from the previous year making the shows the most well-attended in the company’s history. Additionally, more than 1,400 attendees participated in the opening night preview event that benefitted Modernism Week.
The show will return to Palm Springs for Modernism Week’s October 2022 event and again in February 2023.
“The 2022 Palm Springs Modernism Show & Modern Design Expo was a great success,” said Rosemary Krieger, President of Dolphin Promotions. “Our dealers were extremely pleased with sales and despite being the first show since the pandemic, it was by far the most well-attended of the Palm Springs shows in our company’s history.”
