Every February, Palm Springs stops pretending to be a regular desert city and leans fully into what it is: one of the most intact collections of mid-century modern architecture in the country. Modernism Week is eleven days of home tours, double-decker bus rides, film screenings, and cocktail parties built around that fact. If you care about architecture at all, it's worth building a trip around.
The next February edition runs February 11 through 21, 2027, with over 450 individual events across the eleven days. The 2026 edition ran February 12 through 22. A shorter fall edition is only days away, October 15 through 18, 2026.
Fall 2026 Edition (Oct 15-18)
Quick facts
- Dates: October 15 to 18, 2026, four days with more than 50 activities, per the official October page.
- Tickets: on sale now at modernismweek.com and sold per event. The official site lists no multi-day pass, and sales are final, with no exchanges or waitlists for sold-out events.
- Next February: February 11 to 21, 2027. The schedule preview is October 25, 2026, and tickets go on sale November 1 at noon Pacific.
Headline events listed for the fall run include the Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour, the featured home tour at The Marquee at Twin Palms, a walking tour of the butterfly-roofed Alexander homes in Twin Palms Estates, and Charles Phoenix's Los Angelesland, a Kodachrome-era slideshow of LA's midcentury look. New this year is an inaugural Fall Dining Series at King's Highway, built around local restaurants housed in landmark buildings. The Modernism Art District tour is free and self-guided, with studios open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fall prices (confirm on the ticket site, since they come from event listings): the double-decker bus tour is $130, the Twin Palms home tour $40, the Frey House II tour $75 ($125 with reception), and Sinatra's Rat Pack bus tour $100. Frey House II tickets also work as museum day passes for the Palm Springs Art Museum and the Architecture and Design Center during the festival. Several tours were already sold out in early October, so book now if you're going. The official site doesn't publish shuttle or parking guidance, so plan on rideshare and check each event listing.
Staying in the city makes a four-day festival easier. The Sundune is about ten minutes from the downtown core, and our 3-day Palm Springs itinerary pairs well with a festival weekend.
What Modernism Week Is
The festival is organized by a nonprofit and has been running since 2006. It started as a single home tour weekend and grew into a calendar that covers architecture walks, design-focused shopping events, lectures by architects and preservationists, film screenings, and parties. The Parker Palm Springs typically hosts the big opening night celebration.
Palm Springs is the right backdrop for this because the city has the density. The Coachella Valley was a testing ground for modernist architects in the postwar era. Albert Frey, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Donald Wexler all worked here. The geography helps too: flat lots, mountain views, and a client base that wanted something new.
The Events Worth Booking First
Premier Double Decker Bus Tour. This is the flagship event and the one that books up fastest. The 2.5-hour tour passes by the most significant commercial buildings and residential homes, with expert narration. Tickets run about $130. In 2026 it ran daily from February 12 through 21. Book as early as possible.
Twilight Bus Tour. Same concept as the daytime tour but starts at sunset, so the desert light does its thing on the buildings. Thirteen architecturally significant structures, $100 a ticket. If you had to pick one bus tour, this one photographs better.
Home Tours. The individual home tours are where the festival earns its reputation. These are private residences, usually not open to the public any other time of year. Featured homes change annually. In 2026, The Marquee at Twin Palms (a 1957 home reimagined recently) and The Soleil House (a 1963 property redesigned by Trina Turk) were among the featured tours. Tickets range from $40 to $125 depending on the home and whether a reception is included.
Lectures and Screenings. Many of these are free or low-cost. The Palm Springs Art Museum runs programming throughout the festival, and there are usually architect-led walking tours of specific neighborhoods. These don't sell out the way bus tours do, so they're good to leave open for planning closer to arrival.
Opening Night Party. The opening event draws a crowd and typically sells out. In 2026 the theme was Modernist Motown. The 2027 lineup appears in the schedule preview on October 25, 2026. Buy early regardless.
Tickets and When They Go On Sale
Tickets for Modernism Week go live November 1 at noon Pacific Time. That's when the high-demand events disappear. The double-decker bus tours and popular home tours can sell out within hours. Set a calendar reminder.
Tickets are available at modernismweek.com. There's no official discount for buying multiple events, but purchasing a pass bundle sometimes makes sense if you're planning to attend five or more ticketed events.
Attending the Festival as a Visitor
The events are spread across the city. Palm Canyon Drive is walkable, but many of the home tours and neighborhood walks are in residential areas that require driving or rideshare. If you're planning multiple events in a day, map them out in advance and cluster what you can.
Weekends are the most crowded. If you have flexibility, weekday events feel more relaxed and the lines at popular installations are shorter. The walking tours are better on weekday mornings before the heat.
The Uptown Design District, roughly the stretch of Palm Canyon north of Alejo, concentrates a lot of shops, galleries, and restaurants that participate in the festival. It's worth building some time there even if you don't have a specific ticket.
Staying in a Mid-Century Home
Part of what makes Modernism Week different from a typical festival is that you can sleep in the thing you're celebrating. Palm Springs has a high concentration of original mid-century homes available as vacation rentals, with the flat rooflines, post-and-beam construction, and indoor-outdoor flow intact.
The Sundune is a two-bedroom condo in Palm Springs, coastal-desert in aesthetic rather than strict mid-century, which is a nice counterweight to a week spent looking at post-and-beam rooflines. Starting your morning at the pool and driving ten minutes to a double-decker bus tour of the city's architectural history beats commuting in from the valley edge, and you're inside city limits for the whole festival instead of losing an hour each way.
The Fall Edition
The October festival runs four days and is a smaller version of the February event. The 2026 fall edition is October 15 to 18, and the 2027 fall edition is October 14 to 17, with tickets on sale August 1, 2027 at noon Pacific and a schedule preview July 25. Fewer home tours and bus tour dates, but also smaller crowds and cooler temperatures. If you missed February or want a lower-key version, October is worth a look.
Practical Notes
The festival runs rain or shine. February temperatures in Palm Springs average around 73 degrees during the day, which makes the bus tours and walking events comfortable. Evenings drop into the 50s, so layers matter for the twilight tour.
Parking near event venues fills quickly on weekends. Downtown Palm Springs has a few public lots, but rideshare is easier if you're doing multiple stops. Many attendees rent bikes for the weekend.
The full schedule for all 450+ events is posted at modernismweek.com once the schedule preview goes live. For the 2027 festival that is October 25, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Modernism Week in Palm Springs?
The main event runs eleven days in February, typically the second and third weeks of the month. The 2027 dates are February 11 through 21 (the 2026 dates were February 12 through 22). A shorter four-day fall edition runs October 15 through 18, 2026. February is the main event with the most tours, events, and ticket demand.
How do you get tickets to Modernism Week?
Tickets go on sale November 1 at noon Pacific Time at modernismweek.com. The double-decker bus tours and popular home tours can sell out within hours of going live. Set a calendar reminder. There's no ticket resale marketplace, so if you miss the sale, your options are limited.
What sells out first at Modernism Week?
The Premier Double Decker Bus Tour and the Twilight Bus Tour sell fastest. Popular individual home tours are close behind, especially anything with a reception included. The Opening Night Party on February 12 also sells out early. Lectures and walking tours have more availability and can often be booked closer to the event.
Is it worth staying in Palm Springs for Modernism Week?
It's the right way to experience it. Many of the home tours are in residential neighborhoods that require driving, and the best of the festival spans multiple days. Staying in a mid-century property like [The Sundune](/the-sundune/) puts you inside the architectural era you're celebrating. The [3-day Palm Springs itinerary](/blog/palm-springs-3-day-itinerary/) is a useful planning framework for structuring your visit around festival events.
Where is the best place to stay for Modernism Week?
Staying inside Palm Springs city limits is a different experience than commuting in from a hotel on the edge of the valley, because the festival runs all day and the drive is what kills your schedule. The Sundune is a coastal-desert condo with three king beds and a shared HOA pool, roughly ten minutes from the downtown festival core and a short drive from the Uptown Design District, and it books direct without the Airbnb platform fee. Whatever you book, being rideshare-close to downtown matters because weekend parking near event venues is reliably bad.
How much does Modernism Week cost in total?
Budget roughly $400-$500 per person in tickets if you're doing the flagship experiences: two bus tours ($230), two home tours ($100-$160), and one opening party ($60-$100). Many lectures and neighborhood walks are free, which helps. Bundled passes can make sense for five or more paid events, but there's no official multi-event discount otherwise.
Is the fall Modernism Week worth it if I missed February?
The October edition runs four days instead of eleven, with fewer home tours and bus tour dates, but also smaller crowds and temperatures that some people find more comfortable. Many fall tours still sell out ahead of time, so buy early. It's a good option for sampling the festival or combining with other fall Coachella Valley trips, but the February run is the full event.
Do I need a car for Modernism Week, or can I get by with rideshare?
Most people get by with a mix of rideshare and walking, especially if they're staying near downtown Palm Springs. The home tours are in spread-out residential neighborhoods, so a car helps if you're doing multiple events in different parts of the city in one day. Cluster your daily schedule geographically the night before and you can minimize backtracking significantly. Many attendees rent bikes for the Palm Canyon area events.
For the broader Palm Springs architecture context outside of festival week, the Palm Springs Mid-Century Architecture Guide goes deeper into the specific neighborhoods and architects worth knowing before you arrive.