Cathedral City’s LGBT+ Days festival returns for a weekend packed with live entertainment, activities, and a strong sense of community. Now in its ninth year, the event kicks off with the raising of the pride flag at City Hall. “We were the first city in the valley to do so,” says Chris Parman, Cathedral City’s special events consultant and a lead planner of LGBT+ Days.
Guests can enjoy a free outdoor screening of Some Like It Hot at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater, experience the fabulosity of drag star Miss Conception at the Mary Pickford Theatre, or dive into the fun at the Pride Pool Party at CCBC Resort.
New to the lineup this year is the Cat City Drag Race, where eight contestants will take part in the annual Bed Race & Parade before hitting the stage for a fierce lip-sync showdown.
The beloved Bed Race, which happens Sunday, sets LGBT+ Days apart from other Pride events in the valley. Introduced in 2015, the race has drawn celebrity participants including Martha Wash, Lance Bass, and the late Leslie Jordan.
“Every year [at Kansas State University], they had the Spring Fling, and they would do bed races,” Parman shares of the activity’s collegiate origins. “I said, ‘Why don’t we do a bed race?’ Everybody gravitated to that idea, and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
LGBT+ Days honors the lives, history, and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Cathedral City is inclusive,” Parman says. “We want to make sure people feel welcome here.”
