"The desert celebrates spring"

If you love nature — or live entertainment— this is the time to escape to the Coachella Valley.

From Palm Springs to Indio, the skies are blue, the temperature is mild and spring is busting out all over. Name your pleasure: Flowers? Baby animals? Cowboys? Music? The desert celebrates spring in myriad ways.

Cowboy enthusiasts can pull on their boots and high tail it out to the second annual Palm Springs WestFest & Frank Bogert Memorial Rodeo, March 24 to 27 in Palm Springs. Last year more than 12,500 people attended this whirl of riding, roping, reenacted gunfights and all things Western, said J. Alex Gomez, WestFest sponsorship director.

"WestFest pays homage to Palm Springs' movie cowboy heritage dating from the 1930s," he explained. Events include the three-day rodeo; a BBQ Showdown cooking contest; the Western Design Expo which features the Gene Autry Film-Fest; and the TwangFest Cowboy Music Festival of Western Music. Tickets are still available.


Desert flowers welcome the new season in the Coachella Valley.

(Photo courtesy of Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities Convention and Visitors Authority / March 13, 2011)