Worth a Read: 50 Moments That Shaped Greater Palm Springs

Palm Springs Life Magazine published a wonderful article this month: “50 Moments That Shaped Greater Palm Springs.”  As the list travels through history, you can see our community start to come together, from its pre-1900 foundations through the Rat Pack era. We see when landmarks like the airport, tram, and Sunnylands opened. Imagine the Coachella Valley before golf courses in 1951! 

As we look at this list of what made Palm Springs Palm Springs, you can’t miss that it’s also a list of enduring desert culture that Harold Matzner is still involved with to this day. Harold’s philanthropic efforts include The Living Desert, Eisenhower Medical Center, the McCallum Theatre, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival- all listed as peak Palm Springs by the magazine. 

Our favorite entry? The founding of the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1990. Today, Harold Matzner chairs the Festival and Awards Gala, which is still growing over 30 years later. 

1990

Stars Come Out for the Film Festival

Mayor Sonny Bono makes good on his promise to bring back Palm Springs’ glamour by launching the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It draws more than 17,000 film patrons in the first year, which features Cinema Paradiso, the eventual Best Foreign Film winner at the Academy Awards. Today, the festival and its star-studded awards gala attract more than 135,000 attendees over 11 days of programming.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY PALM SPRINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sonny Bono (with his wife Mary) launches the Palm Springs International Film Festival.