Modernism Week Reports Increased Attendance

Modernism Week Reports Increased Attendance and Community Economic Impact

PALM SPRINGS – Modernism Week officials announced that the annual festival, which took place from Feb. 15 – 25 in the Palm Springs area, had more than 130,000 attendees who participated in more than 400 events during the 11-day festival.

Celebrating midcentury modern design, architecture, art, the festival generated an estimated economic impact of $68 million for area hotels, shops, restaurants, and other local businesses from Palm Springs to La Quinta and beyond. In addition, CAMP, Modernism Week’s ‘Community and Meeting Place’ and headquarters for tours and events inside the Hyatt Hotel experienced more than 26,000 visitors throughout the festival. The festival offered attendees the opportunity to participate in home tours, talks, parties, and architectural bus excursions throughout the Coachella Valley.

“Once again, Modernism Week continued to help brand the entire Coachella Valley as a mecca for design, preservation, modernism and architecture,” William Kopelk, Modernism Week Board Chairman and co-founder, said in a statement. “Our diverse programing this year focused on many aspects of modernism and offered tours of iconic residences that had not previously been open to the public. We are very pleased that our attendees continued to learn about design, architecture, and culture regionally, nationally, and internationally. ”

Modernism Week attendees came from all 50 United States and the District of Columbia, with California accounting for the majority of attendees (approximately 50%). Attendees came from 440 of 482 cities in California, or 91% of all California cities. Locally, the Coachella Valley represented 38% of tickets sold in California. In addition to many California visitors, the event was popular with attendees from Texas, Washington, New York, Illinois, and Florida. Attendees came from across the globe with twenty-four countries represented, including Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, France and many more.

The popular Palm Springs Modernism Show, which celebrated its 24th year, also saw robust attendance numbers. Nearly 15,000 people attended the popular sale at the Palm Springs Convention Center, on par with the previous year, including more than 1,300 attendees who participated in the opening night preview event that benefitted Modernism Week. The show will return to Palm Springs for Modernism Week’s October 2024 event and again in February 2025 for Modernism Week’s 20th Anniversary.

“We are proud that the Palm Springs Modernism Show continues to be one of the highlights of Modernism Week,” said Rosemary Krieger, President of Dolphin Promotions, the show’s producer for 24 years. “Our dealers were extremely pleased with sales including robust sales on the opening night and throughout the four-day show.”

Modernism Week celebrates and fosters appreciation of midcentury architecture and design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields, by encouraging education, preservation, and sustainable modern living as represented in Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley. Highlighting this dedication to education, this year more than 70 lectures and films spotlighting famed architects, landscape designers, historians, design experts and authors were presented to attendees, including the Modernism Week keynote presentation by Dr. Barry Bergdoll, former Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at Columbia University.