Joshua Desert Retreats
Recommended Calendar of Events
April 2012
- Desert Wildflower Season For more info please visit
Desert USA Wildflower Reports
- Theatre 29’s Lost in Yonkers - Mar 11th-Apr 7th
Theatre 29 is a non-profit community theatre and this year there are many plays lined up!
This month through February, Lost in Yonkers will be performed and following in May-June is A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody.
General admission is only $12, senior & military $10 and students $8!
- Joshua Tree National Park Art Festival | Apr 6th-8th, 9am - 5pm
Work exhibited at the Art Festival reflects the the artists' interpretation of the landscape, wildlife, history, or archaeology of Joshua Tree National Park and the California deserts. Subjects are presented in representative or abstract form and do not have to be site-specific. Original work on display and for purchase includes the following media: sculpture, drawing, painting, ceramics, gourd art, photography, and other two- and three-dimensional art forms. Free.
Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, 29 Palms
74485 National Park Drive, 29 Palms 92277 (760) 367-5525
- National Park Week April 21st-29th
During National Park Week all National Parks have FEE-FREE DAYS! The National Park Services have selected days & weeks throughout the year for all parks to be free to all visitors.
- Art Classes at 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery – Apr 14th & 21st 12-2pm
For 6 years & up, we offer throwing on the wheel to make your own cup or other functional ware. Learn to wedge clay, center on the wheel, and throw your own pieces. Once your ware is bisque fired, you'll learn to design and glaze the surface with bright fun colors. Pottery on the Wheel Part I & II, $60 per class.
- Art Classes at 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery – Apr 28th 12-2pm
Creating dazzling stained glass designs using copper foil and lead-free solder. All the necessary tools and stained glass are at your disposal during your instructed class. Doug also offers to design, build, and install a custom stained glass piece for a site specific location or a gift for someone special. Stained Glass $30.
- Bike Ride through the Park Supports Shoes That Fit | May 17
The ninth annual Bike Ride Tour through the Park, named after the founder of the original ride Art Ehrenberg, will once again support the Shoes-That-Fit program. This charitable program is sponsored by the four Rotary Clubs in the Morongo Basin in concert with Reach Out Morongo Basin, provides underprivileged school-aged children with gift certificates for the purchase of new shoes for school.
For more information and for registration online go to Bike 4 Shoes
- Hilltoppers M.C. “29 Palms Wild West Grand Prix”
First weekend in April. There are different classes in which riders participate including Kids and Pee-Wee racing, Vintage, Classic, and a Pro Team race with a minimum $3000 purse. Over 1300 riders participate. Races begin at 8:00 a.m. both days; grandstands are available for spectator viewing. Vendors and food booths will be open both days.
Gate fee is typically $10.00 per person, per day or $15.00 per person for the weekend. AMA, D-37 cardholders, seniors and military I.D. holders typically pay $5.00 per day or $10 for the weekend. Children aged twelve and under are free. Overnight camping is allowed. This event is held annually in the late spring/early summer.
For more detail, please contact the 29 Palms Chamber of Commerce (760) 367-3445.
- Poplight Art Exhibit | Every Sat and Sun, 7pm
Wonder Valley artist Helena Bongartz has been creating Poplight in the vast dark desert night amid the salt flats near Amboy ongoing for two years. A constantly changing dual-video projection dances on a solitary and semi-abandoned cabin with digitally manipulated images arising from shards of plastic pop bottles. Weekend nights, weather permitting, rain and high winds stop the show.
Amboy Road, about 45 minutes east of 29 Palms (before Amboy)
For more info please visit PopLight.net
- Retro UFO Spaceship Convention
TBA
What really happened at Giant Rock in the 60's and 70's? And what is happening now? Hear first-hand stories from the people who were there. $125 per day, $225 for both days includes lunch. Space limited, first come, first served.
(760) 365-3266 or Email to retroufo@gmail.com
May 2012
- Desert Wildflower Season is from March to about May and should be especially beautiful this year with all of the rain this winter. For more info please visit Desert USA Wildflower Reports
- Joshua Tree Music Festival | May 13-15
Each year the festival gets bigger and bigger and with two stages, camping by a lake in the desert, organic foods, BYO drinks (yea THAT kind), and with such a fun, friendly atmosphere we can see why.
Tickets may be purchased here | 3 Day Pass $80 | onsite camping $10 per person per night.
Call 877.327.6265 or email jtmf@onebox.com for more information.
- 14th Ever Wonder Valley Music Fest Sat | May 17
Sky's the Limit Observatory & Nature Center Benefit
$20 Tex-Mex Catered Dinner by Ricochet
The Palms Resturant
- 'Under the Stars' A Benefit for Sky's the Limit | May 17
Events begin at 6:30 at Trader Jeff's with a reception featuring the work of Chuck Caplinger. 5% of sales will be donated to Sky's the limit. Chuck Caplinger has donated a piece to be raffled off. At 8:00pm, the party will move to The Palms Restaurant in Wonder Valley for dinner and music al fresco. Dinner is a Tex-Mex feast with all the fixin's: corn-on- the-cob, tacos, spicy wings, beans and rice, and bottomless ice tea. The Palms has a full bar.
Tickets are only $20.00. The reception is free. Call (831)236-8359 for tickets or stop by Trader Jeff's weekends 12-7
- Afterschool Arts Program
Every Wednesday in May: 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th
This fun and educational program will take place every Wednesday in May from 3:45pm to 4:45pm at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s Palmer Performance Hall and is open to public and home school students. The fee is $35 per child. For more information, call 760.366.3441 or enroll online at Hi-Desert Cultural Center
- Bailey's Automotive Anniversary Car Show
TBA -(760) 367-7716
June 2012
- Summer Movies in the Park | Beginning June 16th
The City of Twentynine Palms Park and Recreation is proud to announce the Movies in the Park summer line-up. This season will begin on June 16th with the showing of “The Karate Kid”. The next movie will be "How to Train Your Dragon" on June 23rd. Also showing this summer will be "The Last Airbender", "Despicable Me", "Nanny McPhee Returns", "Shrek Forever After" and "Mega Mind". All the movies are free and will begin around 8pm. The Movies are shown on the Theater screen painted on the North side of the racquetball courts in Luckie Park and a snack bar will be provided by the Twentynine Palms Youth Club. Come out and enjoy some great family fun in the park!
View Larger Map
- 29 Palms Street Fair & Car Show | June 3rd 4:30 - 10:30pm
Don’t miss the annual Twentynine Palms Street Fair and Car Show! This extravaganza is held on Twentynine Palms Highway (State Route 62) in downtown Twentynine Palms the first weekend in June. Vendors line the street and downtown merchants extend business hours for your shopping and dining pleasure. Enter your own classic car or help us elect winners in a "People’s Choice" contest. Try your hand at a rock climbing wall or belt one out at the karaoke booth. Have a snowcone or visit an old fashioned soda fountain. Get an airbrush tattoo or face paint for the kids. You can even test wireless internet services or check out new wireless phones! Local radio station Z107.7 provides music with a live, remote broadcast. Join us for hometown summer fun.
For more detail, please contact the
29 Palms Chamber of Commerce - (760) 367-3445
- National Park Get Outdoors DayJune 9th
During Get Outdoors Day all National Parks have FEE-FREE DAYS! The National Park Services have selected days & weeks throughout the year for all parks to be free to all visitors.
- High|Desert|Test|Sites | June, 28
83131 Amboy Rd, Wonder Valley, California 92277 On June 28th, 2008 High Desert Test Sites is pleased to collaborate with the Center for Land Use Interpretation to present a film by London based artist Bernd Behr titled “House Without a Door”. The weekend will include a Saturday afternoon panel discussion, followed by dinner at the Palms in Wonder Valley and then an evening screening of the film on the most remote Test Site on Iron Age Road. (Low impact camping will be allowed on the site)
For more info and to RSVP for dinner visit the High|Desert|Test|Sites
July 2012
- Summer Movies in the Park | Beginning June 16th
The City of Twentynine Palms Park and Recreation is proud to announce the Movies in the Park summer line-up. This season will begin on June 16th with the showing of “The Karate Kid”. The next movie will be "How to Train Your Dragon" on June 23rd. Also showing this summer will be "The Last Airbender", "Despicable Me", "Nanny McPhee Returns", "Shrek Forever After" and "Mega Mind". All the movies are free and will begin around 8pm. The Movies are shown on the Theater screen painted on the North side of the racquetball courts in Luckie Park and a snack bar will be provided by the Twentynine Palms Youth Club. Come out and enjoy some great family fun in the park!
View Larger Map
- 4th of July celebration | July 4, 6pm
This will be the only fireworks show in the Morongo Basin offered off the Marine Base and all residents of the Morongo Basin are invited to bring a picnic, blankets and lawn chairs to the Yucca Valley High School Football field this July 4th to enjoy this special traditional celebration of freedom.
Yucca Valley Rotary Club for more information.
- July 3rd Fireworks
Homestead Valley Park - (760) 364-4431
- THE 4th of July Celebration | 5-9:30 pm
Live music by MCAGCC 29 Palms Band (Marine Corp Band) and fireworks show.
29 Palms Marine Base - (760) 830-5086
August 2012
- Perseids
Meteor Shower | August 12th
The shower's peak is from around 11 p.m. until dawn. Meteors can streak across any portion of the sky so you don't need to look toward Perseus to see them.
September 2012
- Arts and Tourism Week
Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council - (760) 361-1805
- Desert Writers Weekend | Sept 27 & 28
Writers Celebration 27 Sept 6pm at the Sun Runner Magazine
61855 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree 92252 760 / 366-2700
- National Public Lands Day | Sept 29th
During National Public Lands Day all National Parks have FEE-FREE DAYS! The National Park Services have selected days & weeks throughout the year for all parks to be free to all visitors.
