As California’s first Pride event of the year, the 8th annual Cathedral City LGBT Days presented by Agua Caliente Casinos again brings together numerous LGBTQ+ celebrities, artists, performers, media, community leaders, Coachella Valley residents and visitors for a weekend of live entertainment, community engagement and fun activities from March 8-10.
Friday March 8 features the official Pride flag raising and lighting of City Hall beginning at 5:55PM. Doors open at 6:00PM for a 6:30PM community film screening of Mike Nichols’ classic The Birdcage under the stars at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater.
The screening is free to the public; register for film tickets here. Bars throughout Cathedral City will host LGBT Days specials following the screening and all weekend.
Saturday’s festivities include a headline comedy show starring River Butcher taking place at the Agave Caliente Terraza, the outdoor entertainment pavilion at Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City.
A Los Angeles-based standup comic, actor, and writer, Butcher’s first half-hour special “A Different Kind of Dude” debuted on Comedy Central’s YouTube channel. River recently wrote on the FX pilot “Belated,” previously wrote for “A League of Their Own,” and created/starred in/wrote the critically acclaimed and GLAAD award-nominated tv show “Take My Wife.” He’s also been on screen as non-binary standup comic Lindsay Brady on “Good Trouble,” Adam Conover’s sibling on “Adam Ruins Everything” or queer dinner guest Denim in the hit movie “Friendsgiving.” Butcher’s done standup all over the globe and the screen and was named one of Vanity Fair’s “Ten Comics to Watch” at Montreal’s Just For Laughs/Juste Pour Rire in 2017, just 6 years after doing his first standup open mic. He’s just recorded his first one-hour special in Portland, set to be released on YouTube this year.
Get tickets here.
The weekend concludes on Sunday March 10 with the annual Bed Race and Parade of Beds in front of City Hall starting at 10:00AM, where thousands of well-wishers line up to cheer on teams running festively decorated beds down Avenue Lalo Guerrero, competing for prizes and local infamy; admission is free and open to the public.
The Bed Race will be emceed by local talent and accompanied by live entertainment. After the Bed Race, Cathedral City LGBT Days will host a noon Champagne Sunday Brunch featuring top DJs, champagne, drink specials, exclusive vendors, and gourmet food trucks on hand for all attendees to close out the weekend in style.
"Cathedral City is always excited to celebrate our vibrant LGBTQ+ community with our annual weekend full of arts, culture, dynamic programming, and our popular Sunday Bed Race," said Ryan Hunt, Communications & Events Manager for the City of Cathedral City. "Our community is valued and respected as a place that welcomes and embraces diversity, and LGBT Days is a shining example of this continued mission by our Communications & Events Department and city leadership.”
“Agua Caliente Casinos is proud to be the presenting sponsor of Cathedral City LGBT Days, a three-day event filled with entertainment, laughs, mingling, and of course, the infamous bed race,” shared Todd Berendji, Sr. Vice President and General Manager. “We’re excited to host the official Cathedral City LGBT Days comedy show on Saturday, featuring headline comedian River Butcher. We’ll also have a great Happy Hour in the Tequila Bar, leading up to the comedy show.”
Additional activities will be announced weekly, with information posted on official social media channels (@CathedralCityLGBTDays) and the official website.
The event welcomes community participation and is currently accepting applications for the Bed Race and Parade, sponsors, vendors, volunteers and performing talent. Please apply here.
For the third year in a row, Cathedral City LGBT Days is produced by Soundskilz Productions, a national entertainment production agency headquartered in Temecula, CA.
George Paul
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