Dinah Shore Weekend

The Dinah Shore Weekend came into being back in the early 1970’s when the Colgate Company asked singer Dinah Shore to host a women’s golf tournament in Palm Springs that would become the Colgate Dinah Shore. After a few years it became known simply as the Dinah Shore. Because of Dinah Shore’s popularity and the personal attention she gave to promoting the tournament it became one of the “majors” for the LPGA and attracted the best women golfers in the world. The Dinah Shore also became the place to be for lesbians in Southern California who, for reasons yet to be determined, love golf and the women who play it.

When lesbian entrepreneurs began selling vacation packages during the week of the tournament, the Dinah Shore Weekend was born. Traditionally, the last weekend of March, the Dinah Shore Weekend now hosts nearly 30,000 lesbians. While many of them still go to what is now called the Kraft Nabisco Golf Tournament, most are in town for several days of serious partying. Dinah Shore may have died and her name is no longer associated with the tournament but she lives on in the form of the Dinah Shore Weekend. Ironically, most of the women who come to the Dinah Shore Weekend are too young to remember Dinah Shore.

The Dinah Shore Weekend is much more than a weekend. It’s a week long event that includes the golf tournament as well as any number of dances, receptions, concerts and pool parties. The hotels are full, the rental cars are all rented and the streets are clogged with women who now come from all over the country, if not the world. They are entertained by any number of TV actresses, pop stars, athletes and other celebrities who find themselves on the gay entertainment circuit.

African-American lesbians, as well as Latina and Asian lesbians, usually choose The Party in The Desert for the Dinah Shore Weekend. This 4-day party hosted by Lucy and Gail combines culture with entertainment specifically designed to attract minority women. This is in contrast with the other Dinah Shore Weekend parties that attract primarily young Anglo women and is more akin to Spring break in Florida. Sponsors have not failed to see the potential for hawking their products during the Dinah Shore Weekend and today the names of major airlines, liquor companies, sports products and other major brands are a common sight at the many venues hosting parties.

Would Dinah Shore have approved, probably not but the Dinah Shore Weekend lives on and is one of the biggest events of the year in Palm Springs and has helped transform this desert town into one of the gay meccas of the world.