Palm Springs’ White Party sets attendance record

This weekend’s White Party, the annual gay danceand music festival held in Palms Springs, set a new attendance record,according to its producer.

The festivities began Friday and wrapped up Sunday with a splashyoutdoor extravaganza staged across from the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“White Party was originally designed to be a weekend getaway for theL.A. boys,” event producer Jeffrey Sanker told The Desert Sun. “I guess theword got out about what a welcoming and beautiful city of Palm Springs is . . . because we now have attendees from every corner of the globe.”

Now in its 24th year, the White Party is one of Palm Springs’ biggesttourism draws and generates more than $1 million in occupancy tax for the city,according to Sanker. Attendance at last year’s White Party set a record, and,while figures have yet to be tabulated, Sanker believes it drew even more partygoers this year.

“Last year we had over 30,000 attendees over the course of theweekend,” Sanker told the Sun Sunday. “So far, we are ahead of last year.”

Among this year’s performers were Carly Rae Jepsen, whose 2012 hitsingle “Call Me Maybe” put her on the pop music map, Carmen Electra, AlexisJordan, Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters, and the Swedish pop duo Icona Pop.