La Quinta Art Celebration ENCORE gets the posters, the juried booths and the Champagne Bar. It also lasts four days. Over those four days at the Civic Center, at six hours a day, a collector has 24 hours to walk the tents. Then the tents come down.
On Main Street, in Old Town La Quinta, the season works on a different schedule. Art on Main Street runs on ten Saturdays, six hours each, from November 28 through April 3, 2027. That comes to 60 hours of open-air browsing, and admission is free. If you live at The Citrus Club, the drive to ENCORE is a single trip this month. The trip to Main Street can be a standing Saturday through spring.
Four Days on Calle Tampico
ENCORE runs Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, at the La Quinta Civic Center, 78495 Calle Tampico. According to the organizer's October update, this fall's show brings 154 artists, and 43 of them are showing at the Celebration for the first time. The same update notes the event's ranking as the nation's top Fine Art & Fine Craft Event by Greg Lawler's Art Fair SourceBook and its listing as a Top 10 Fine Art & Design Show by Sunshine Artist Magazine.
The practical numbers for a visit:
- Adult admission: $25 for one day, or $30 for a multi-day pass
- Children under 12: free
- Parking: $10 self-parking, $20 valet
- Tickets: at the gate or in advance at LaQuintaArtCelebration.org
With self-parking, one adult spends $35 for a single day. The multi-day pass costs only $5 more than a day ticket, so it pays for itself as soon as you come back a second time, and with 154 artists a second day is a reasonable plan. The show offers live music at two locations, and drinks are poured at the Champagne Bar, Amphitheater Bar, Oasis Lounge, Palm Bar and Margarita Grill.
Three Booth Numbers to Write Down
The organizer named three featured artists for ENCORE 2026, and each has a booth number, which matters in a field this large.
- Rebecca Molayem, Painting, Booth 333. She painted this year's event poster. She is a Los Angeles expressionist painter and sculptor whose work covers coastal scenes, nightlife, florals and interiors.
- David Palmer, Painting, Booth 501. His work is on the event t-shirt. The Los Angeles artist combines Pop Art imagery with layered surfaces that resemble weathered frescoes, and he has created digital effects for feature films including The Polar Express, Spider-Man 3 and the first Harry Potter movie.
- Doug Anderson, Ceramics, Booth 102. He lives in Rancho Mirage and made a one-of-a-kind "Tennis" chess set in which famous players serve as kings, queens, bishops and knights, and ball kids, linesmen, referees and scoreboards fill out the rest of the board.
Anderson's chess set ties ENCORE to the other big event in the valley that week. The organizer notes that the WTA Finals are being played at Indian Wells Tennis Garden the same week, so ENCORE week brings world-class tennis to the valley along with juried art on Calle Tampico.
The organizer's update also quoted Mayor Linda Evans:
"La Quinta has long embraced the arts as part of our community's character. This fall's Celebration gives residents and visitors the chance to meet exceptional artists, and enjoy our city's hospitality at its best."
ENCORE has run before, including in 2024. The spring Celebration is scheduled for March 4 to 7, 2027. Between those two Civic Center shows sit the Main Street Saturdays.
Ten Saturdays on Main Street
Old Town La Quinta's 2026–2027 schedule lists Art on Main Street on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each show brings more than 80 local and regional artists working in fine art, photography, jewelry, ceramics, glass, textiles, woodwork, sculpture and mixed media, and admission is free.
| Month | Saturdays |
|---|---|
| November 2026 | 28 |
| December 2026 | 12 |
| January 2027 | 2, 16, 30 |
| February 2027 | 13, 27 |
| March 2027 | 13, 27 |
| April 2027 | 3 |
The schedule picks up in January, when three of the ten dates fall. The spring Celebration on March 4 to 7 lands the week before the March 13 Saturday, so the first half of March has the juried show on Calle Tampico followed by the open-air show on Main Street. The Main Street series also opens 9 a.m., an hour earlier than ENCORE, so you can see the booths before the day warms up.
From The Citrus Club, the drive starts at the gate on Pomelo and goes out to Jefferson Street near Avenue 50. That is the reverse of the club's own driving directions, which bring visitors up Jefferson past Avenue 50 and right on Pomelo.
November 28, When Art and the Holidays Overlap
The first Saturday of the Main Street series falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the city's holiday listings fill the same day. Three events share the date, each in a different place.
- Art on Main Street, Old Town La Quinta, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is the series opener, with 80-plus artists along Main Street.
- Holiday Art Market, Old Town Artisan Studios, 78046 Calle Barcelona. It is a free showcase of student work in fused glass, mixed media, painting, ceramics, watercolor and printmaking. The city's listing also shows it continuing November 29.
- Chestnut Roasting & Dessert Demonstrations, La Quinta Resort & Club lobby, 49-499 Eisenhower Drive. This one moves the day from Old Town to the resort.
The Artisan Studios on Calle Barcelona and the Main Street booths are both in Old Town, which pairs the first two stops. The chestnut roasting is at a separate address on Eisenhower Drive.
Lunch Between Booths
Old Town La Quinta's dining directory lists several spots along the Main Street blocks where the booths set up. They include Main Street Coffee at 78100 Main St., Suite 102; DSRT Club at 78075 Main St., #105; YES PLEASE at 78065 Main St., Suite 100; RD RNNR at 78065 Main St., Suite 200; and Stuft Pizza at 78015 Main St. Old Town's profile of Lola's at The Cove, at 78015 Main Street, lists daily hours of 2 to 9 p.m. and takes reservations, which suits a late lunch after a Saturday at the booths.
The shopping directory places La Quinta Olive Oil Company at 78075 Main St., Suite 102, and Boulevard Luxury Consignment at Suite 104 of the same address, on the Main Street where the art sets up.
Back to Calle Tampico on December 4
Nineteen days after ENCORE closes, the city returns to the same Civic Center Campus at 78495 Calle Tampico for its Tree Lighting Ceremony, Friday, December 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. The city's event page lists Mr. and Mrs. Claus, train rides, live performances, hot chocolate and other sweets, and snow, all free. The second Art on Main Street Saturday follows eight days later, on December 12.
That gives the season's first five weeks this order: ENCORE on Calle Tampico from November 12 to 15, Old Town and the resort lobby on November 28, the Civic Center again on December 4, and Main Street on December 12. After that, the Saturdays continue on their own schedule through April 3.
If a piece you find at Booth 333 or on Main Street changes how you want your walls to look, or how a room in your Citrus Club home should be set up, Craig Chorpenning is glad to talk it through. Request a private consultation, or schedule a tour of homes with the wall space and light to show off this season's finds.
