HAPPY HALF-CENTURY: How do you do up a special 50th birthday party when there's a lively community involved, one that boasts many artists and hikers and bird enthusiasts and amateur astrologists and devotees of the desert? You can't go too subtle, is the first order of the celebration, nor can you throw the shindig under the high desert sun. You wait for a month or so into autumn, when temperatures'll still be warm but not too toasty, and then you create a full-on three-day festivity around the anniversary. Such is the case with Borrego Days Desert Festival, a long-running parade that comes festooned with doings over a long 'n lively fall weekend. ("Long 'n lively" meaning three days, from Oct. 23 through 25.) There's a music festival, too, one that'll feature blues, country, mariachi, and the U.S. Marine Corp. Jazz Band. As for the parade? That marches on Saturday, Oct. 24, complete with horses and bands and floats. A fly-over is on the schedule, too, and family to-dos, and cars to admire, and entries from the ever-vibrant Borrego Springs art scene.
BEDDING DOWN IN BORREGO: If dipping into all that is Borrego Springs, and its festival, too, gets you a tad worn out, there's Spa Serenity at Borrego Springs Resort & Spa, which reopened on Wednesday, Oct. 14. There's a special on, from Oct. 14 through 25, too, through Saturday, Oct. 31, which nets you 25% off your service (there's an ad to mention for the special, do note). And La Casa del Zorro has two packages on, The Legend and Stargazing, which is available through the end of the year and gives guests a chance to get acquainted with the velvety, twinkle-pretty sky above the property, and all of Borrego Springs.
THANKS, BORREGO SPRINGS: Is the desert enclave one of your longtime go-to getaways, when you need to commune with the Milky Way or sunsets or art or a little dry heat? Then the Desert Festival might be a good time to celebrate a place you love, alongside locals and other Borrego buffs.
