Along El Paseo and Highway 111, the storefronts are opening on different schedules. Some have been open since July. One reopened in September. One window has said "coming soon" for about a year. Meanwhile, Monterey Avenue is being repaved at night. On El Paseo itself, the one date set in advance is Sunday, October 25, 2026, when the 62nd Annual Palm Desert Golf Cart Parade heads down the street.
The openings around it depend on permits, inspections and paving crews.
The Date That Doesn't Move
The Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce organizes the parade. Decorated carts, floats and marching bands roll down El Paseo after a flyover by the Palm Springs Air Museum. The organizer's route runs from El Paseo and San Luis Rey "all the way until Ocotillo."
The parade starts at noon, but the day starts four hours earlier. Here's the schedule from the organizer and Discover Palm Desert:
| Time | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 8 a.m. | Palm Desert Rotary Pancake Breakfast | Corner of El Paseo and San Luis Rey |
| 9 a.m. | Sponsor and vendor booths open, plus the classic car show | Along El Paseo |
| Just before noon | Flyover by the Palm Springs Air Museum | Over the route |
| 12 p.m. | Parade steps off | San Luis Rey toward Ocotillo |
| Through 3 p.m. | Awards and trophy presentations, food and drink vendors, Kid's Play Zone | Along the event footprint |
The listing also mentions a section set aside for Super Seniors. Free seating is available at several spots along the route. VIP seats cost $30 each, and Senior Seating can be reserved in advance through the Chamber at 760-346-6111.
For parking, the organizer points to the free structure at The Gardens on El Paseo and the city lots between El Paseo and Highway 111, including Presidents Plaza East and West. That guidance comes from the organizer's general "What to Expect" page, which hasn't been updated for this year's event. Check the parade site for any 2026 changes before you go.
Entries are still being organized. The participation page lists float registration, band, dance and cheer entries, food vendors, marketplace booths, and the golf cart and classic car shows, along with an insurance waiver for participants.
Around the Route, the Storefronts Are on Their Own Schedules
The businesses along El Paseo are at different stages this month.
Already open:
- FP Movement opened a 2,297-square-foot store at 73545 El Paseo, Space 1316, on Thursday, October 1, according to the brand's announcement.
- Free People, its sister brand, opened next door in the same shopping center in July, according to the same release.
- J's Deli is back. The Jewish deli had closed last year, and the Coachella Valley Independent reported in mid-September that the owners planned to reopen on September 19 at 73655 El Paseo. The deli's own website now says "Now Open!" at that address.
Announced, status still unclear:
- Yozu Asian Bistro took over the former Shorebird space at 73061 El Paseo. The Coachella Valley Independent reported in August that it was set to open August 26. The restaurant's website now says "Now in Palm Desert," but it doesn't list an opening date or confirm that it's serving customers. Call ahead before you plan a pre-parade lunch around it.
Gone:
- Red Lobster in Palm Desert has closed permanently, the Coachella Valley Independent reported.
- Xanti's Coffee closed its location at The Shops at Palm Desert earlier this year. It opened in Indio at 45810 Fargo St. and plans another location in Coachella.
FP Movement opened on the date its company announced. Yozu's target date has passed without confirmation. The longest wait is on Highway 111.
What a Year of "Coming Soon" Looks Like on Highway 111
One More Bite Dumpling House has a storefront in the Jensen's shopping center at 73547 Highway 111 that has said "coming soon" for about a year. KESQ reported on October 9 that the Palm Desert location could open by the end of October, with a Palm Springs location about two months later.
According to KESQ, the owners signed leases for both desert locations in mid-2025. Early this year, on a visit to city hall, they learned that their building plans had not been filed. The same report cites city records that match that timeline. Palm Desert's permit for 73547 Highway 111 was created May 1, 2026, and issued August 18.
Even with the permit issued, a few steps remain. The fire department asked for fire alarm drawings, which the owners say they've submitted. Next come another fire inspection and then a county health inspection. The owners also told KESQ that city staff in both cities had been "wonderful" to work with.
"Tell them that we are coming."
Luyi Deng, who runs the company's social media, told KESQ that this was her message for people driving past the empty storefront.
The sequence applies to any new restaurant space in town. A signed lease and a sign in the window come first, then the permit, then fire, then county health. A "by the end of October" target depends on two inspections that haven't happened yet. That puts parade weekend right at the edge of when the dumplings might arrive.
Three Thursdays Around Parade Sunday
Off El Paseo, the city's calendar also has fixed dates. The free Concerts in the Park series at Civic Center Park, 43900 San Pablo Avenue, runs Thursdays at 6 p.m. for the rest of October:
- October 15: Franklin Wall
- October 22: 80'z All-Stars
- October 29: MJ Vibes
The October 22 show falls three days before the parade, and the October 29 show four days after. That puts three free evening concerts and the parade inside two weeks. Civic Center Park sits a short drive from El Paseo, so a parade weekend can start on Thursday night.
The calendar gets thinner after October. The El Paseo holiday tree lighting's most recent listing on Discover Palm Desert is for November 22, 2025, so check there for this year's date. Palm Desert Food & Wine's next festival is set for March 18 to 21, 2027.
The Season's Other Schedule Runs After Dark
The biggest change to daily routines this fall isn't on El Paseo. It's on Monterey Avenue. The city's street projects page says work moves this month to grinding and repaving Monterey from Gerald Ford Drive north to the city limit. This phase will disrupt traffic more than earlier work, so most of the paving is planned for nights.
Late September brought lane closures at Monterey and Dinah Shore Drive, with the closures changing day to day that week. For the rest of the project, the city lists temporary lane closures, delays, noise, and occasional changes to driveway or business access. It says it and the contractor will try to keep access to nearby businesses open. The finished work includes repaved asphalt, sidewalk, curb and driveway repairs, traffic signal upgrades, crosswalk and accessibility improvements, and median and intersection work. The city says it will post upcoming paving schedules on the same page as the project goes on.
So if you drive Monterey before 9 a.m., you may see fresh pavement where there was none the night before. If you live close to the corridor, you may hear the crews at work in the late evening.
Parade Sunday falls in the middle of all this. By noon on October 25, FP Movement will be about three weeks old, J's Deli will have been back for about five weeks, and One More Bite will either be serving dumplings or still waiting on its inspections.
If the parade has you looking at homes within walking distance of El Paseo, Craig Chorpenning knows the blocks between San Luis Rey and Ocotillo and can walk you through them. Request a private consultation, or schedule a property tour for the week the season starts.
