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Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend

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Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend, popularly known as “The Dinah”, is a five-day weekend getaway and music festival catering to the lesbian community that takes place annually in Palm Springs, California, United States. It is considered the largest lesbian event in the world. Held each spring, the event offers a series of pool parties, night entertainment, live concerts by Top Ten Billboard recording artists, comedy shows, sport-games and social networking opportunities.

Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend
GenreElectronic music
Dateseach Spring for 5 days
Location(s)Palm Springs, California
Years active1991–present (unofficial starting in 1986)
FoundersMariah Hanson
Attendance15,000
Capacityvaries per venue
WebsiteThe Dinah

Primarily catering to the lesbian demographics, The Dinah celebrates the tapestry of women around the world, attracting some 15,000-plus participants from countries such as Mexico, Australia, Canada, Russia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, China, South Africa, Belgium and Spain.[1] Over the years, it has gradually attracted sponsors such as Miller Beer, MTV/LOGO Networks, here! TV, Sirius Radio, Showtime, O.B. Tampons, Shake Weight and Bacardi among others.

History

 
Pool Party 2011

The Dinah Shore Weekend was named after the late Dinah Shore – a singer, TV personality and renowned golfer, who was not a lesbian.[2] Born Frances Rose Shore, in 1916, she lived in the Coachella Valley and is credited for having founded in Palm Springs the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle golf tournament, now known as the LPGA's ANA Inspiration. The Dinah initially coincided with the ANA Inspiration tournament, which took place the same weekend. The first unofficial Dinah Shore Weekend took place in 1986 when women began to flock to Palm Springs in conjunction with the tournament. "Loosely organized events with boomboxes and alcohol" took place during the tournament in the late 1980s.[3] After-dinner parties following the golfing turned benefits for the Human Rights Campaign and the AIDS Service Foundation.

The first Dinah Shore event was produced as a one night party in 1991 by Mariah Hanson under her Club Skirts Presents The Dinah Marquee at the Palm Springs Art Museum.[4] The early years had the event as co-produced by Hanson and Sandy Sachs and Dr. Robin Gans (promoters of Girl Bar in West Hollywood[5]) beginning in 1992.[6] In 2003 the TV show The L Word had an episode set as happening at the weekend, which helped heighten its visibility.[4] The following year, attendance doubled - the Saturday night party jumped to 2500 from 1200 the year prior.[7] In 2005 the partnership between Hanson and Sach & Gans dissolved, with competing Palm Springs parties happening the same weekend.[5] That state continued until 2012 when Sachs and Gans relocated to Las Vegas for an event which was called Girl Bar Dinah Shore Week Las Vegas.[8]

The event initially was viewed as a party weekend, with the New York Times in 2007 calling it "Girls Gone Wild for Girls"[7] and Sports Illustrated calling it "lesbian spring break".[9] Beginning in the late 2010s, the event started to rebrand itself as the "the largest and most famous girl party music festival in the world" in an effort to move away from that image.[6]

In 2006 Guinevere Turner featured the event in the TV documentary A Lez in Wonderland (original title: Broute-minou à Palm Springs).[10]

Timeline and highlights

Year Highlights
1991 First event held
1993 First Major magazine to sponsor The Dinah: Out Magazine
1993 Ellen DeGeneres attended as guest at the Friday night White Party[11]
1994 First long term contract with a major hotel: The Riviera Resort
1994 Expanded to Sunday night making it a four-day event
1997 Received proclamation from Republican and Conservative Mayor Kleindienst acknowledging March 29 as Gay Tourism Day Dinah Shore Weekend Day
1998 Signed ten-year contract with The Wyndham
2000 Added Doral as second overflow hotel
2006 The Dinah joined forces with Planet Out to produce the exclusive Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend. Headline performances by The Pussycat Dolls, En Vogue, and Joan Jett.
2007 The Dinah teamed up with The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken to produce an exclusive L Word event with actresses Kate Moennig, Leisha Hailey and Jane Lynch called “be Scene”. Headliners featured India.Arie and Uh Huh Her.
2008 Colbie Caillat, Lisa Lisa and Pat Benatar headlined The Dinah. The official LOGO Networks and here! TV Red Carpet events launched
2009 The Dinah booked Grammy nominees Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Indigo Girls, as well as Margaret Cho and Uh Huh Her to headline the night parties/concerts.
2010 The Dinah celebrates its 20th milestone anniversary. Headliners featured Salt-N-Pepa, Ke$ha, Martha Davis and The Motels, and Paradiso Girls. Celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and[Jeff Parshley hosted a “NOH8” Sunday Pool Party.
2011 Chely Wright, Natasha Bedingfield and Dev and The Cataracs headlined The Dinah. Actress Brittany Snow and MTV/Logo hosted a “Love is Louder” Sunday Pool Party to raise awareness on school bullying and discrimination. Celebrities attending included Laurel Holloman (“The L Word”), Fernanda Rocha (The Real Housewives of Orange County), Whitney Mixter and Rose Garcia (“The Real L Word”).

Activism and humanitarian endeavors

 
White Party at Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend 2011

The Dinah has become a platform to mobilize the lesbian community around LGBT-oriented humanitarian projects and social issues. Hanson has teamed up with a variety of organizations and lent her support to various humanitarian causes and activist movements such as GLAAD, NOH8, LOVE IS LOUDER, The San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Community Center, The Women's Building, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Jon Sims Center, Ladies Philharmonic, Uhuru Movement, HRC, Lyon Martin Health Clinic, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and Equality California. Hanson just ended her second term on the Board of Equality California and also sits on the "Women's Night" committee for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Both organizations are named charity recipients of The Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Girls' Guide to Dinah Shore". 31 March 2009.
  2. ^ Mahdawi, Arwa (April 7, 2016). "20,000 lesbians in the desert: welcome to the Dinah, a world without men". The Guardian. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Hoeffner, Melissa Kravitz (9 October 2021). "Back in Lesbian Paradise, at Long Last". New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kravitz Hoeffner, Melissa (2021-10-09). "Back in Lesbian Paradise, at Long Last". New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b Gelt, Jessica (2010-04-03). "Rival parties toast 20 years at the Dinah". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b Bendix, Trish (2021-10-10). "Why The World's Biggest Lesbian Party Is Trying To Rebrand Itself As A 'Women's Music Festival'". Into. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b Ryzik, Melena (2007-04-01). "Daughters of the Dinah, Unbound". New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  8. ^ Mazak, Cheryl (2012-01-26). "Dinah Shore Weekend Dual Rivalry Ends: Club Skirts Is Last Dinah Party Standing, Girl Bar Goes to Vegas". Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  9. ^ Mansfield, Stephanie (1997-04-07). "MAJOR PARTY WOMEN GO TO THE DINAH FOR THE GOLF AND FOR THE SCENE THAT HAS GROWN UP AROUND THE TOURNAMENT". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  10. ^ A Lez in Wonderland at IMDb
  11. ^ McMammon, Michelle (2014-03-13). "Club Skirts Dinah Shore Attracts Bigger Crowds, Bigger Names". Palm Springs Life. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

Further reading

 
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