Living and playing in Palm Springs isn't just about cruising and bar hopping - although those activities certainly help get one laid. Still, the calendar year in Palm Springs is rarely without a seasonal event, each with its own particular character and holiday-like flavor. While you may not find a Yule at any of these events, you probably will run into at least one person in a bunny suit - a-patent-white-leather-bunny-suit-that-cost-a-lot-thank-you-very-much. Whether you are into Castro or disco, here are a number of the biggest events this side of Palm Canyon Drive culled from one long-timer's black book.

Palm Springs Pride
NOV. 2-4: PSPRIDE.ORG

If the White Party is the place to be for the hothouse honeys and the Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Tournament is the joint for frisky females, then Greater Palm Springs Pride is a regrouping of the community under a common rainbow flag.

Every fall, Pride takes over the Palm Springs Power Baseball Stadium to hold a queer fair bonanza, complete with a diverse shopping experience and two stages (country and pop) filled with dance music and the swirls of dancing couples. Because you can't do a Pride event without a parade, Greater Palm Springs Pride regularly takes over the heart of downtown Palm Springs for a full-tilt march down an avenue where few residents bat an eyelash at singing Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, growling leathermen, burly bears and a fair share of Dykes on Bikes.

Indeed, Greater Palm Springs Pride is a celebration not only of queer life but of the acceptance Palm Springs has shown the local LGBT community, which can be witnessed by the families who regularly bring their kids to cheer along with the revelers.

Palm Springs Leather Pride
NOV. 9-11: DESERTLEATHERPRIDE.COM

Not to be outdone, the Palm Springs leather community (headed by the very friendly Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert) also regularly stages a Leather Pride event, although this event most understandably takes place primarily behind closed doors. With a formal leather dinner, a day of demonstrations of the latest techniques for all comers and endless other opportunities to play, Palm Springs Leather Pride is usually a blast for all involved.

Just recently, Leather Pride has been able to expand another key event in its schedule from a vendor fair held in a backlot to a full-blown 2-day outdoor event. For the general public, this is the most notable element of the proceedings and it presents every Tom and Harry Dick the chance to scope out the latest in hi-quality items fit for every kink and lifestyle.

Rubber Weekend; FistFest

While they are two separate events, West Coast Rubber Weekend (westcoastrubber.com, Aug. 30-Sept. 3) and FistFest (rhsd.org/fistfest.htm, June 12-14) represent two examples of the extreme side of Palm Springs gay culture, a side that is very much indulged behind the closed doors and latched gates of the many local queer hotels and B&Bs.

Rubber Weekend regularly sees hundreds of men descending on a number of local hotels with pumping and rubber rockin' being the order of the day.

FistFest, as the name implies, is an event that "plays" to that extreme practice of handball. It has the distinction of being the only remaining memory of the San Diego Red Hankies organization that used to regularly hold fist events. What the organizers behind the Red Hankies may today lack in frequency they certainly make up with intensity, if the grunts and groans of hundreds of greasy pigs are anything to squeal at.

Both of these events regularly see many of the same individual attendees, as do Palm Springs' other events, with members of each organization checking out their fellow's festivities and even joining in the fun themselves.

What are you waiting for? There is always something and someone to do in PS, so get your asses over here and join up with the (pool deck) crew.

Many credit the gay community with reinvigorating the local economy and social landscape, driving tourist dollars into the city coffers and Pride right on down the Coachella Valley's only viable downtown environment: Palm Canyon Drive. Of course, for all the beautification that has rejuvenated public perception, there is a backside to the local gay community that most aren't privy too - those places where the Princes and Queens of Palm Springs have their way. Here is one local dude's breakdown of the best places for guys on the go to have some fun right away.

Oasis Nightclub
611 S. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, 760-416-0950; CLUBOASISPS.COM

If you are looking for the hottest queer nightclub in the valley, Oasis is your destination de jour. With hot dancing, bartenders and music, the location is equal parts bar, nightclub and lounge, with a fully covered outside patio that seems custom built for cigar smokin' and brandy siftin.' Many of the major yearly events' dance parties are held behind its glass doors and most nights the DJs keep the joint bangin.'

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