Modernism Week's October Edition Now Runs on Dinner Reservations

"I am very excited about our new curated events that will allow our guests to participate in dining, social, and exclusive wine tasting experiences," Lisa Vossler Smith, CEO of Modernism Week, told Palm Springs Life on October 2.

That sentence describes where the festival is growing. Modernism Week – October runs October 15 through 18, 2026, with more than 50 activities. Eleven days out, the ticket listings show many of the best-known interior and bus tours already sold out, while the new evening calendar is still open at well-known Palm Springs addresses such as Eight4Nine, Mr. Lyons, the Ace and the Thompson. For anyone who lives here and plans their week late, the October edition now works best as an evening calendar.

The Morning Tours Went First

The organizer's FAQ warns that availability changes constantly and that it keeps no waitlist for sold-out activities. Here is what the live ModTix listings showed as sold out on October 4:

• Twin Palms Guided Walking Tour, the $50 resident-led walk through the desert's first Modernist neighborhood
• Downtown Palm Springs Village Green Historic Tour, the free ticketed walk past the Palm Springs Historical Society's museum buildings
• Sunnylands Historic House Tour and the Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour
• Kirk Douglas Estate Tour and Cotino, a Storyliving by Disney Community
• Bella da Ball's Celebrity Homes Bus Tour and the Twilight Architectural Bus Tour

This is a snapshot of one day. Individual dates or seats can come back, so the ticketing site is the only reliable place to check. Still, the pattern is clear. Some daytime walks still had open tickets on October 4. For Thursday, October 15, that included Frank Sinatra's Neighborhood, Giants of Architecture, Golden Era of Hollywood Homes in Old Las Palmas, Rat Pack Playground in Vista Las Palmas, and Hidden Paradise of Showbiz Legends on The Mesa, each $55 and starting at 8:30 a.m. The house interiors that people buy tickets to see were the first to sell out.

Where the Festival Added Capacity

The new programming is almost all after 6 p.m. The inaugural Modernism Week Fall Dining Series is described as "a curated sampling of local favorite restaurants housed in iconic buildings," with chef-prepared menus designed for the festival. On October 4, each of these evenings showed a ticket link, not a sold-out flag:

1. Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge, Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m., $190 for three hours.
2. Bar Issi, Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m., $230 for two hours.
3. King's Highway, Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., $120 for three hours.
4. Mr. Lyons Steakhouse, Saturday, Oct. 17.

Around those dinners, the festival added a full nightlife schedule. Wined-Up brings wine tasting with charcuterie to the HALL Palm Springs tasting lounge inside the Thompson Palm Springs on October 15. Modernism Week After Dark: Spirit Animal follows Friday's Modernism Show preview party at Hotel Zoso for $45 on October 16. On Saturday, After Dark: Amigo Room at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club runs from 8 p.m. for $70, with DJ Bobby and craft cocktails.

PS Underground is hosting two ticketed meals. Nod to Mod on October 16 and 17 is a supper club with music from the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The Saturday seating is $225 and includes a four-course dinner and free-flowing cocktails. Sunny Side Up on October 18 is a three-course brunch set to Broadway and Great American Songbook tunes.

Some returning programs now cost more. The Midcentury Mixology class with Steen Bojsen-Moller at Mr. Lyons runs daily October 15 through 18 at $90, up from $85 in 2025. Mr. Lyons is in the festival twice, as a mixology venue every day and as a Saturday dinner stop. F10 Hospitality also appears on ModTix as one of the activity producers.

The New Tours Head Out of Downtown

Two of this year's new tours are outside the usual downtown and Movie Colony loop. Explore the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the festival's first tramway outing, runs October 15 and 16. It covers the Valley Station by Albert Frey and John Porter Clark and the Mountain Station by E. Stewart Williams, with lunch at Peaks Restaurant.

Blue Skies Village: Behind the Gates of a Hollywood Hideaway on October 17 opens seven homes and William F. Cody's clubhouse at the Rancho Mirage mobile home park associated with Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, George Burns and Barbara Stanwyck. Sunset at The Lautner Compound in Desert Hot Springs pairs a twilight tour of Hotel Lautner with a signature cocktail. The Saturday slot is $150 and starts at 6 p.m.

Within city limits, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation is hosting the two most specific house visits. A Sackley Stunner on October 17 opens Earl and Marie Liever's 1968 Stan Sackley home in Indian Canyons. Palm Springs Life notes the couple loved to entertain but did not care to host overnight guests, so the house has grand rooms and only one bedroom. Morada La Estrella on October 18 is William Charles Tanner's 1932 Spanish Colonial Revival house in Old Las Palmas, which was designated a Palm Springs Class 1 Historic Resource in May 2026. The featured home is The Marquee at Twin Palms, a renovated 1957 post-and-beam house reimagined by H3K Home + Design and open October 15 through 18.

The Parts That Need No Advance Planning

Some of the week works without a reservation. The 12th annual Palm Springs Modernism Fall Show fills the Palm Springs Convention Center on October 17 and 18. Admission is $30 and covers return entry both days. In 2025 the show charged $25 and announced nearly 50 exhibitors. This year it lists 40, along with Airstream trailer tours. The Opening Night Preview on Friday, October 16, runs 6 to 8 p.m. and costs $95 in advance or $110 at the door.

Shag's "Par Avion" print release at The Shag Store on Saturday, October 17, is free from 6 to 9 p.m., with complimentary cocktails and live music by The Martini Kings. It is still ticketed. The Palm Springs Art Museum's Architecture and Design Center is showing Alternative Palm Springs: Other Desert Architectures through January 4, 2027. The exhibition covers unbuilt projects, counterculture designs and LGBTQ+ histories. It stays up well after the festival, so it can wait for a quieter weekday.

A Local's Four Days, Built Backward From Dinner

Since the evenings have the most open tickets, start with them and fill in the days around them:

1. Thursday, Oct. 15. Take an 8:30 a.m. walking tour, such as Giants of Architecture through the commercial district. End the day at Eight4Nine at 6 p.m., or at Wined-Up at the Thompson. Mod with a Twist at Krisel's 1957 Ocotillo Lodge also runs this day, with short talks on topics including the Monkees and the time Palm Springs set its own time zone.
2. Friday, Oct. 16. The Preservation Foundation has talks on William Charles Tanner and Hugh Kaptur. In the evening, go to the Fall Show preview from 6 to 8 p.m., then Spirit Animal at Hotel Zoso.
3. Saturday, Oct. 17. This is the busiest day. Start with the museum's Hugh Kaptur's Unbuilt Work program at 10 a.m. at the A+D Center, $25 or $20 for members. Charles Phoenix presents his new Kodachrome slide show, "Los Angelesland," the same day. The evening comes down to one choice, because the King's Highway dinner runs three hours from 6 p.m. If you skip the dinner, the Shag reception runs 6 to 9 p.m., and you can leave it in time for the Amigo Room at 8 p.m.
4. Sunday, Oct. 18. Have brunch at Sunny Side Up, then spend the afternoon at the Fall Show with the return entry from your Saturday ticket.

On this plan you could spend four days at the festival and never need one of the sold-out tours. Most of the stops are restaurants, hotels and venues in Palm Springs itself.

At Charles Gallagher, we read Modernism Week the way we read a home: the details that last are the ones that matter. If a Fall Show find, a Sackley floor plan or an evening at Eight4Nine leaves you thinking about how midcentury design could work in your own home, whether you're renovating it or presenting it to buyers, let's connect and talk it through.