Palm Springs VillageFest could return this summer

VillageFest could be making a comeback in downtown Palm Springs this summer. The Thursday night street fair has been closed since the pandemic began in March 2020.

“There is huge support for bringing it back,” said Joy Meredith, a business owner and merchant liaison for VillageFest Palm Springs.

The Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs has been a staple event for almost 30 years, but it’s been shut down since the start of the pandemic.

“For some of these businesses, the vendors that are out there, this was their only show that they did and they made their living on it, so to have it shut down for over a year was very devastating,” Meredith said.

Joy Meredith, a business owner in downtown Palm Springs and merchant liaison for VillageFest, says about 80 of the over 200 merchants expressed interest in being a part of the festival’s proposed return this summer.

“I think it’d be great. It’d be great for people that are visiting here, people that live here, and also great for the vendors to stimulate business,” said Chris Ortale, a part-time Coachella Valley resident.

The owner at Marianne’s in Palm Springs says customers are always asking her when VillageFest is coming back.

“We all get lots of questions about it from visitors that are coming to downtown, some people that came to see VillageFest and they’re disappointed that it’s not there,” said Meredith.

The VillageFest commission proposed its Phase 1 of return, which includes a smaller number of vendors and a smaller area from Tahquitz Canyon Way to Amado Road because of restaurants with expanded patios taking up space on the roads. 

“We want it to be a benefit to downtown, not a detriment to downtown, right?” Meredith said.

The VillageFest commission has proposed a July 1 return. The City of Palm Springs plans to discuss the possible return of VillageFest at next week's city council meeting, contingent upon California's planned reopening of the economy on June 15.