Greater Palm Springs Pride celebrates four decades with the theme “Be Included,” honoring Fortune Feimster, Cheyenne Jackson, Dottie DuBois and Gary Moline during Pride weekend November 6–8
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 9/19/26 – Greater Palm Springs Pride is preparing to mark a major milestone this November, and some familiar faces from entertainment and the Coachella Valley community will be leading the celebration.
As Palm Springs Pride commemorates its 40th anniversary, comedian and actor Fortune Feimster has been selected as the 2026 National Grand Marshal, while Broadway, television and recording star Cheyenne Jackson will serve as Celebrity Grand Marshal.
They will be joined by longtime Palm Springs entertainer Marshall Pearcy, better known as Dottie DuBois, who has been named Pride Royalty for Life, and community leader Gary Moline, this year’s Community Grand Marshal.
The Hollywood Times is proud to be a media partner of Greater Palm Springs Pride, sharing the stories, personalities and community spirit surrounding this landmark anniversary celebration.
This year’s Pride weekend takes place November 6–8, 2026, with the theme “Be Included.” The centerpiece will be the 40th annual Pride Parade on Sunday, November 8 at 10 a.m., beginning at Palm Canyon Drive and Tachevah in the Uptown Design District. The parade will travel south along Palm Canyon Drive before reaching the Pride Festival near Amado Road. Pride officials expect the procession to run for approximately two hours.
Few performers seem more naturally suited to a celebration built around joy than Fortune Feimster.
The comedian, writer and actor has become one of entertainment’s most recognizable LGBTQ+ voices, turning personal stories, relationships and everyday mishaps into the warm, observational comedy that has fueled her career.
Her three Netflix stand-up specials, Sweet & Salty, Good Fortune and Crushing It, have introduced her comedy to audiences around the world. Her television work includes The Mindy Project, FUBAR and Netflix’s The Hawk, while her film credits include Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. She is also part of the popular Handsome podcast alongside Tig Notaro and Mae Martin.
And Feimster’s Pride Sunday won’t end with the parade.
She will take the stage at Palm Springs’ restored Plaza Theatre at 8 p.m. November 8 for an encore presentation of “Fortune Feimster: Takin’ Care of Biscuits.” The additional performance was scheduled after her first Plaza Theatre show sold out.
That makes for quite a Palm Springs Sunday: grand marshal by morning, headlining comedian by night.
Celebrity Grand Marshal Cheyenne Jackson arrives with a résumé spanning Broadway, television, film, recording studios and some of America’s best-known concert halls.
Jackson’s Broadway credits include Xanadu, Into the Woods, All Shook Up, Finian’s Rainbow and Once Upon a Mattress. Television audiences know him from projects including American Horror Story, 30 Rock, Glee, The Morning Show and Julie and the Phantoms. He has also appeared on stages including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center.
Jackson will also perform on Pride Sunday. His touring show “That Guy from That Thing” comes to the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert at 6 p.m. November 8, combining music and storytelling and drawing from Broadway, jazz and pop.
The 40th anniversary celebration is also looking homeward.
Marshall Pearcy, beloved locally through his longtime stage persona Dottie DuBois, has been designated Pride Royalty for Life.
The recognition celebrates Pearcy’s decades of work in the desert and the extraordinary local legacy associated with Dottie DuBois and Maude Chapeau and Les Dames Du Soleil, whose presence in the community stretches back more than four decades.
Pride says the honor recognizes not simply a performer but a history of community involvement that has become part of Palm Springs’ LGBTQ+ story.
Gary Moline will represent another important piece of that local history as the 2026 Community Grand Marshal.
Moline moved to Palm Springs in 2000 with his husband, Larry Chew, and brought with him experience as a charter member of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band.
He subsequently helped establish the organization now known as Palm Springs Desert Winds, serving over the years as artistic director, board member and national delegate to the Pride Bands Alliance.
His community involvement has also included service with the Greater Palm Springs Pride Board and Desert Business Association. Moline previously received a Community Service Award from the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission.
The anniversary festivities extend well beyond Sunday morning.
Greater Palm Springs Pride’s official celebration runs Friday, November 6 through Sunday, November 8, transforming sections of downtown Palm Springs and the Arenas District into a sprawling gathering of live entertainment, DJs, community organizations, vendors, food and LGBTQ+ resources.
Most importantly, the Pride Festival and Parade remain free and open to the public. Pride’s current schedule includes multiple outdoor stages, with entertainment continuing throughout the weekend.
The Sunday parade will also feature several reviewing areas along Palm Canyon Drive, including a broadcast stand near Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge and a Deaf Pride reviewing area north of Amado Road offering sign-language interpretation and seating for members of the Deaf community on a first-come basis.
Four decades after Palm Springs began building what would become one of the desert’s defining annual celebrations, Pride’s 2026 anniversary puts both national names and hometown heroes at the front of the procession.
For one weekend in November, the message is simple — and fittingly Palm Springs:
Be Included.
Greater Palm Springs Pride
November 6–8, 2026
40th Annual Pride Parade: Sunday, November 8, 10 a.m.
Palm Canyon Drive, from Tachevah south to the Pride Festival
Admission: Free
For official schedules, parade information and updates: Greater Palm Springs Pride
By Valerie Milano
The Hollywood Times
