Modernism Week's October festival opens this Thursday, October 15, and runs through Sunday, October 18. In late July, KESQ published the announced lineup of more than 50 events, including five dinners in a new Fall Dining Series. Modernism Week's own event listings now show three. One of the missing dinners belonged to a downtown restaurant that closed in August. The other was set for Mr. Lyons, and I couldn't find any published explanation for its removal. In the meantime, the same group opened a new café on the south end of Palm Canyon.
The October schedule reflects the city's restaurant scene as it stood in midsummer. Ten weeks later, part of that scene has changed, and the official roster is the version that shows it.
Five Dinners Announced in July, Three Listed Now
KESQ's July 29 announcement described the October event as a smaller version of the 11-day February festival. It listed the Fall Dining Series and a new After Dark lineup as the main new features. Modernism Week's own listings call it "the inaugural Fall Dining Series, a curated sampling of local favorite restaurants housed in iconic buildings."
Here is the July list set against the current entertainment and social roster:
| Restaurant | Date announced in July | July price | On the current roster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge | Oct. 15 | $190 | Yes, Oct. 15, 6 p.m. |
| Bar Issi | Oct. 15 | $230 | Yes, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. |
| Trio Restaurant | Oct. 16 | $165 | No |
| King's Highway at Ace Hotel & Swim Club | Oct. 17 | $120 | Yes, Oct. 17, 6 p.m. |
| Mr. Lyons Steakhouse | Oct. 17 | $230 | No |
The current ModTix ticket page still shows the July prices for the three remaining dinners. Friday night no longer has a Fall Dining Series dinner. Two dinners now share Thursday, and King's Highway is the only Saturday dinner.
The Friday Dinner Was Booked at a Restaurant That Has Since Closed
KESQ's July announcement described Trio as "a beloved Palm Springs gathering place for nearly two decades." Less than two weeks after that, The Desert Sun reported that Trio had closed after nearly 17 years. The Coachella Valley Independent confirmed in late August that the downtown restaurant had closed and that Trio's airport location is still operating.
A CityWatch report in August said there was no reliable public statement from the owners explaining the closure. The Trio dinner no longer appears on Modernism Week's current roster.
The Mr. Lyons dinner on October 17 is also gone from the current listings, and no published explanation was found. Mr. Lyons is still part of the Palm Canyon story this October, though, because of what opened next to it.
South Palm Canyon Gained a Morning Stop
F10 Hospitality is the group behind Mr. Lyons and Birba. In August it was preparing a café called Bird at 211 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite C, and hoped to open in late September. It made that timeline. Palm Springs Bites reported on September 26 that Bird had opened its doors on East Palm Canyon, at the south end of the street near Mr. Lyon's.
The details for this week:
- Hours: daily, starting at 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening hours are expected once the café settles in.
- Coffee: the program is built around Onyx Coffee Lab and includes espresso drinks, matcha, chai, and cold brew.
- Evening plans: the August announcement described the space as a café by day and a wine bar at night.
- How to find it: a newly painted red bird mural faces Highway 111.
None of the festival's home tours or bus tours lists Bird as a stop. On a weekend when many ticketed events start in the morning, though, the south end of Palm Canyon now has a café open at 7 a.m. that wasn't there in July.
Nights Moved Toward the Ace and Hotel Zoso
The After Dark events changed less than the dinners, but one was renamed. KESQ's July preview listed "Modernism Week After Dark: Spirit Animal" for Friday at $45. The current listing is called "70s DISCO: Preview Night After Party." It's still at Spirit Animal inside Hotel Zoso, and each ticket includes two well cocktails. The current price for this event hasn't been confirmed against the $45 in KESQ's July preview.
With the two July dinners removed, the dining, After Dark, and preview-night events now fall like this:
- Thursday, Oct. 15. Dinners at Eight4Nine at 6 p.m. and Bar Issi at 7 p.m. Ethyl's Place Mod Bingo with Ethylina Canne celebrates Tupperware's 80th anniversary with drag performances and retro music by DJ Discoboy. Modernism Week CEO Lisa Vossler Smith hosts a wine tasting at Hall Winery, priced at $150 in the July announcement.
- Friday, Oct. 16. The Preview Party for the Palm Springs Modernism Show at the Palm Springs Convention Center is $95 in advance or $110 at the door and includes re-entry to the show all weekend. The disco after-party at Spirit Animal follows.
- Saturday, Oct. 17. Dinner at King's Highway at 6 p.m. Modernism Week After Dark at the Amigo Room inside Ace Hotel & Swim Club starts at 8 p.m. It costs $70, and the ticket includes two drinks at the Amigo Room.
On Saturday, the Ace hosts both the only remaining dinner and the late event that follows it. The two venues sit inside the same hotel, so a resident who booked that pair has one destination for the whole evening.
The New Tours Are Selling Faster Than the Dinners
Two tours are new this October, and neither depends on a restaurant staying open. Lisa Vossler Smith described the program in KESQ's July coverage:
"In addition, we are offering exciting new tours, including a first-ever Modernism Week produced tour of the famous Palm Springs Aerial Tramway."
The Tramway tour on Friday, October 16, starts at 9:45 a.m., costs $170, and runs about three and three-quarter hours. ModTix lists it as sold out. The ticket includes tram admission, guided architectural and hiking tours, and lunch at Peaks. Transportation to the tramway and parking aren't included.
The other first is a tour of Blue Skies Village on Saturday, October 17, for $85. According to the official event page, the tour goes inside seven mobile homes and includes a hidden garden, outdoor areas, and the clubhouse designed by William F. Cody. The July coverage described six interiors. The official event page now lists seven. ModTix shows five start times between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. When last checked, the tour's ticket page marked the 10 a.m. slot sold out and showed the 11 a.m. through 2 p.m. slots without that label. Availability can change daily during festival week, so check the ticket page before planning a Saturday around it.
The other evening home events from the July announcement are also worth checking on the current listings. They include a progressive dinner across three homes at Cotino in Rancho Mirage on October 15 and twilight tours of The Lautner Compound on October 16 and 17.
The Corrected Weekend
The festival is four days long. It now includes three dinners instead of five, a renamed disco night, a sold-out tram tour, and a mobile home tour with tickets left in the middle of Saturday. Anyone working from the July preview should drop the Friday dinner at Trio. Bird is new since the preview and serves coffee at 211 E. Palm Canyon Drive from 7 a.m. each morning of the festival.
The changes to Palm Canyon Drive between July and October affect how a neighborhood looks to buyers as well as how residents spend festival week. If you own a midcentury home near the Uptown Design District or the south end of Palm Canyon and you're considering a sale timed to the season, Marco Colantonio can walk you through how current local openings and closures fit into your listing presentation. Request a Free Market Consultation before February's festival weekend draws the next wave of design-minded buyers.
