PALM SPRINGS (CNS) – Modernism Week, an annual celebration of Palm Springs mid-century design and architecture, will begin Thursday with opening day festivities including tours, cocktails, live music and more.

Festivities kick off at 8 a.m. with a sold-out Twin Palms Guided Walking Tour featuring an insider’s perspective of the desert’s first modernist neighborhood, followed by the sold-out Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour featuring an overview of Palm Springs’ most significant mid-century architectural treasures.

Events continue at 9 a.m. in the Hyatt Palm Springs featuring live music, refreshments and a free professional color consultation, before city officials and the Modernism Board of Directors host a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. for the Community And Meeting Place, which will serve as a central hub of activity throughout the 11-day festival.

Also set to begin at 9 a.m. is a sold-out Frey House II Tour with museum day passes, and a $55 House of Friday Home Tour featuring the newly renovated home where Elvis and Priscilla Presley honeymooned in 1967, according to event officials.

Over a dozen tours are scheduled throughout the morning, followed by a sold-out Midcentury Mixology Cocktail Clinic at Mr. Lyons, where attendees can learn to make iconic, class cocktails from the mid-century era while enjoying a welcome cocktail.

The VIP opening weekend hosted by retro pop culture humorist Charles Phoenix will also begin at 4 p.m. at Azure Sky Hotel, in which 24 modernist guests will enjoy the newly opened deluxe hotel for four nights and five days.

At 4:30 p.m., there will be a free festive celebration of permanent nighttime lighting of Albert Frey’s modern sculptural masterpiece at the Palm Springs Visitor Center.

Two free events will begin at 5 p.m. — one at CAMP featuring DJ Daizy Van Tassel Vinyl Disco Set and one at The Penney Spirits Library in Rancho Mirage featuring a mid-century modern séance on Desert Island. The night will end with the festival’s opening night party at Studio 74 in Palm Springs featuring a 1970s disco nightclub atmosphere.

Tickets and more information about Modernism Week are available at ModernismWeek.com. Event organizers will host more tours and similar events through Feb. 26.

Modernism Week to Kick Off With Tours, Cocktails and Music