Palm Springs Pride runs Nov. 6 to 8, against a backdrop of uneven Canadian travel to the United States. Canadians made 1.9 million return trips from the U.S. by car and plane in September, up 6.8% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Oct. 13. “This marked the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth,” the agency wrote.
Those national figures measure travel across the U.S., not visits to Palm Springs. Cross-border travel remains far below 2024. Car trips were “31.1% lower than in September 2024,” StatCan said, and air trips were 18.7% below that month.
The agency started adding NEXUS highway data with the September count. “Users are advised to exercise caution when comparing data,” it wrote.
Palm Springs International Airport Runs Just Behind Its 2025 Record
Palm Springs International Airport carried more than 3.3 million passengers in 2025, a record, and spokesman Jake Ingrassia told KESQ on Oct. 6 that 2026 is running slightly behind that pace. “We’re seeing several of those seasonal returns earlier than last year, weeks and even months in some cases,” he said.
The returning routes KESQ named were all domestic, and hotel managers told the station their bookings are strong. “Q4 and Q1 are well ahead of pace versus same time last year,” Dan Johnson, general manager of the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort and Villas, told the station. Over at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, general manager Nusrat Mirza said, “We are having an amazing year.”
Canadian flights were the weak spot last winter, with scheduled arriving Canadian seats down 5% for January and 17% for February from a year earlier, The Palm Springs Post reported in December 2025, citing the airport. “The narrative we are seeing here is that Canadian arrivals are down but only fractionally, while PSP’s domestic growth is more than offsetting the difference,” Ingrassia told the Post.
Canadian Travel to California Fell in 2025
Canadian visits to California fell just over 18% in 2025, to about 1.4 million, as anger over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his talk about Canada kept travelers home, the Los Angeles Times reported in February. “I just don’t see this ending any time soon,” McKenzie McMillan, a travel adviser with Vancouver’s Travel Group, told the paper.
WestJet trimmed U.S. flying after “a notable decline in transborder travel demand throughout 2025,” media relations adviser Julia Kaiser told Global News, Business Insider reported.
“Our friends at home said, ‘No, don’t go!'” Lois Chapman, a yearly visitor from Ontario who was volunteering at Modernism Week, told the Times. “Canada, I think, is just feeling hurt. It’s the climate these days.”
Canadian volunteers who came back got a loud welcome at a Modernism Week kickoff event. “The entire room exploded in applause because we were so delighted they came back,” Modernism Week CEO Lisa Vossler Smith said.
Pride President Ron deHarte Courted Canadians as Mayor
Ron deHarte, president of Greater Palm Springs Pride, was the city’s mayor in April 2025 when council members approved “We love Canadians” street banners. “We appreciate the support we get, and this is a good opportunity that will get picked up on social media,” he said that week, The Palm Springs Post reported.
This year’s Pride theme is “Be Included.” “This theme is an invitation to embrace your full self,” executive director Jasmine Sullivan Waits said when the group announced it in April.
Oscar’s Has a Pride T-Dance After a Difficult Year
Oscar’s, the downtown LGBTQ+ bar and restaurant, has a full Pride weekend lineup a year after owner Dan Gore told KESQ business was down 30% from the season before, following a slow summer and a nearly $50,000 air conditioning repair. “We’re totally seeking a quarter of $1 million,” Gore said in November 2025, when Oscar’s set a $40,000 GoFundMe goal. “We don’t want any more band aids.” (Gore has company: Pasadena’s The Boulevard planned a Halloween farewell, and Tampa’s Bradley’s on 7th plans to file for Chapter 11.)
In July, Gore accused the neighboring Plaza Theatre, which Oak View Group manages, of treating him unfairly in a fight over a backstage “green room” inside his building, KESQ reported. “It was all maybe,” he said of the theater’s offers. The theater denied his claims and said it had nothing to do with Oscar’s money troubles. “I’m here to help us as a group and help the community as a group,” Gore said.
Gore’s Pride T-Dance runs 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, according to Oscar’s website, a few hours after the parade steps off at 10 a.m. and heads south on Palm Canyon Drive.
