Back to back festival weekends boost local economy ahead of slow summer months

Sunday marks the end of three back-to-back weekends of music and parties.

With big events like Stagecoach and the White Party wrapping up, we wanted to see what that means for local businesses.

Three weekends of non-stop music and thousands of visitors flocking to the valley means big business for the local economy.

But one local business said that wasn’t always the case for Palm Springs.

“I remember ten years ago when you can throw a cannon ball down Palm Canyon on a Sunday afternoon and it wouldn’t hit anyone. Today it’s so great to see so many people here on a regular basis,” Lulu California Bistro general manager Willie Rhine said.

Thanks to two weekends of Coachella, Stagecoach and the White Party the desert’s season seems to be extended.

“Palm Springs has changed dramatically over the last several years. The economy here has boosted. All of these events are very crucial to the success in the economic development in Palm Springs,” Rhine said.

“Today we got totally hammered for brunch. Every body’s ready to eat after partying all weekend. It’s a great thing Zin American Bistro owner Mindy Reed said.

But the summer months are quickly approaching and as the temperatures go up the number of visitors could go down.

“It gets very very slow. It gets dead. We cut every body’s hours, it’s kind of sad. It gets slow downtown but you know we always kind of hope for the best and hope that everyone will want to vacation in Palm Springs,” Lush Couture manager Kenzie Stradt said.

But restaurant owners don’t seem to be worried about the summer months.

“Summer doesn’t really slow us down on the weekends. Again Palm Springs is a drive-to destination, people from Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, they all get in their cars to enjoy Palm Springs. During the week it definitely hurts a little bit,” Rhine said.

“We’re really lucky because Palm Springs does an awesome job at marketing to the European tourists. And actually July and August are not our worst months, they’re actually really busy with the Brits and the Germans who just love the sunshine and the heat. They don’t care,” Reed said.

Proving something locals have known for a while, our desert is always in demand.