What to Wear in Palm Springs in January
Palm Springs in January: 21°C / 70°F days, 9°C / 48°F nights, and twelve days of film festival that open with a black-tie gala.
- Black velvet blazer — leave the Convention Center on gala night and you cannot get back in to fetch a wrap
- Black floor-length gown — the Film Awards code is black tie, and darker tones are its traditional reading
- Black satin frame clutch — every gala bag is screened with a metal detector
- Bone silk shell — festival lines form outside, and a January afternoon reaches 21.4°C
- Cream wide-leg trousers — one outfit from matinee to evening screening, since PSIFF has no late seating
- Stone ballet flats — PSIFF does not let you save places in line, so you stand for your own
- A wrap left in the car on gala night — leaving the property ends re-entry
- Arriving at the Film Awards before 4pm — parking opens at 4pm and the event asks guests not to come sooner
- A tote to a screening — PSIFF bars large bags from its theatres
- Bare arms at the 9:30pm exit — the night falls toward 9°C / 48°F
January is film-festival month in Palm Springs. The 38th Palm Springs International Film Festival runs 7–18 January 2027 and opens with the black-tie Film Awards at the Convention Center. NOAA NCEI's airport normals give a 21.4°C afternoon and a night that falls to 8.7°C / 48°F, and NOAA's normals make January the wettest month, at just over an inch. The festival itself sets the brief: "Many lines are outside of the theatres. Please dress appropriately for comfort, as it can get hot during the day and cold in the evenings. Theaters may also get chilly." Pack one black velvet blazer that goes over a gown and over a silk shell.
Festival January runs on one layer: a black velvet blazer that goes over a gown on the 4:30pm red carpet and over a silk shell at a 2pm screening.
The capsule
01Black velvet blazer, shawl lapelOne layer has to cover the gala and the screenings. The Film Awards FAQ says that once you exit the Convention Center property you will not be permitted back inside, so a wrap left with the valet stays there; this goes over the gown for the 9:30pm walk out. By day it rides over the silk shell into theatres the festival warns can get chilly.
02Black floor-length gown, mock neck, sleevelessThe Film Awards code is black tie, with floor-length gowns or cocktail dresses for women, and its FAQ notes that "traditional black tie favors darker, more formal tones". Black is the plain answer. A high mock neck needs no necklace to finish it, and a sleeveless cut keeps you cool through cocktails from 5pm; the blazer covers your arms for the exit.
03Black patent pumps, pointed toe, mid heelThe awards FAQ pairs its gowns with heels, and the night is long: doors and red carpet at 4:30pm, cocktails from 5pm, dinner and the show from 6:15 to 9:30pm. A slim mid heel lasts five hours on carpet and banquet floor. Black patent matches the clutch and keeps the attention on the gown.
04Black satin frame clutch, gold claspBags are allowed at the Film Awards, but every one is screened with metal detection, and the FAQ's rule of thumb is "if you wouldn’t take it through TSA, please leave it at home". A frame clutch opens in one movement at the door. It holds the photo ID you show at check-in and passes the festival's no-large-bags rule at screenings.
05Bone silk shell, sleevelessFestival lines form outside, and NOAA's normals put a January afternoon at 21.4°C, so the queue is where you overheat. Sleeveless silk stays cool in the sun while the blazer hangs over your arm. Inside, the blazer goes on, since the festival itself warns the theatres get chilly, and bone silk under black velvet reads as evening wear without looking like gala dress.
06Cream wide-leg trousers, pleatedA festival day swaps queues for cinema seats several times, and a pleated wide leg sits through both without pulling across the lap. Cream pairs with the bone shell and turns the black velvet blazer into a day jacket. PSIFF has no late seating, so there is no detour to the hotel; these go from a matinee to an evening screening as they are.
07Stone leather ballet flats with a bowPSIFF does not allow saving places in line or holding seats for other guests, so you stand for your own spot, often outdoors. Flat soles take a day of standing on pavement that pumps would not. Stone sits between the cream trousers and the bone shell, and on gala night the pair waits in the car for the drive home after five hours in pumps.
08Tortoiseshell sunglassesOutdoor queues face the desert sun, and on 15 January it does not set until 5pm, low enough to sit in your eyes in the line for a mid-afternoon screening. Tortoiseshell suits the velvet blazer and the stone flats; a sporty wraparound reads as a ski trip. Fold them into the clutch at the theatre door, where the cinema goes dark.
Day to night
Festival day. Bone silk shell · cream wide-leg trousers · stone ballet flats · tortoiseshell sunglasses for the queue · black velvet blazer on once you are inside. PSIFF has no late seating and no saving places in line, so arrive early and stand for your own seat in the sun.
Film Awards, Thursday 7 January. Black floor-length gown · black patent pumps · black satin clutch · the velvet blazer over the gown. Valet and self-parking open at 4pm, doors and the red carpet at 4:30pm, and dinner and the awards run from 6:15 to 9:30pm. Sunset comes at about 4:52pm, so you arrive in daylight and leave into a night falling toward 9°C / 48°F.
A suggested look — black velvet shawl-lapel blazer, bone silk shell, cream pleated wide-leg trousers, stone ballet flats, tortoiseshell sunglasses.
What to avoid
- A wrap left in the car once you are inside the Convention Center
- Arriving at the Film Awards before 4pm
- A large bag at a festival theatre door
- Gala heels for a day of outdoor queues
- Dressing a festival evening for the 21.4°C afternoon
Frequently asked questions
Warm by day, cool at night, and wetter than the rest of the year, though only just. NOAA NCEI's climate normals for Palm Springs Regional Airport (USW00093138) give January an afternoon high of 21.4°C and a low of 8.7°C / 48°F. Precipitation averages 1.14 inches, so NOAA's normals make January the wettest month, at just over an inch and a hair ahead of February's 1.11. Rain still falls on only about 3 days, with a tenth of an inch or more on about 2. NOAA computed these figures from 20 to 22 years of record. Sunrise holds at 6:51am through mid-month, and sunset moves from 4:48pm on 1 January to 5:16pm on the 31st.
For festival days: a bone silk shell, cream pleated wide-leg trousers, stone ballet flats and tortoiseshell sunglasses, with a black velvet blazer for the theatres. For the Film Awards: a black floor-length gown, black patent pumps and a black satin frame clutch, with the same blazer over the gown. That covers a 21.4°C queue, a cinema the festival warns runs chilly and a night that falls to 9°C / 48°F. Leave the tote and the wrap at home.
Black tie. The 2027 event FAQ answers the question in three words, "Black Tie Attire," and asks women to wear floor-length gowns or cocktail dresses with heels and fine jewelry. It adds: "While traditional black tie favors darker, more formal tones, tasteful modern variations are also welcomed." The awards open the festival on Thursday 7 January 2027 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N Avenida Caballeros, and the FAQ asks guests not to arrive before 4pm. Bring a government-issued photo ID for check-in. Bags are allowed but screened, and once you leave the property you cannot go back in.
Early and mid-January hold the festival. The festival runs from Thursday 7 January to Monday 18 January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the gala falls on the first night. Late January comes after the festival closes, with longer days: sunset moves from 5:00pm on 15 January to 5:16pm on the 31st. If you add the Aerial Tramway, California State Parks' advice for Mount San Jacinto holds all month: "Regardless, always be prepared for snowy/icy conditions." In 2026 the Tramway ran its first car at 8am over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, 17–19 January.
Slightly, yes. NOAA's airport normals give January 21.4°C by day and 8.7°C / 48°F at night, against December's 20.7°C and 7.9°C / 46°F, so December is the cooler month on both counts. January is wetter, 1.14 inches to December's 0.68, yet both average rain on about 3 days. Our December guide is built around the Aerial Tramway and the Festival of Lights Parade, with a down jacket for the Mountain Station. January trades that for a velvet blazer, a gown and flats, because the month's plans are a gala and a run of screenings.
Sun clothes by day and dark evening dress by night, and both have January history here. Getty Images captions a Slim Aarons picture at Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House "Palm Springs, California, January 1970": Lita Baron, Nelda Linsk and Helen Dzo Dzo by the pool, the same three women as in the frame Getty titles Poolside Gossip. The festival history credits Sonny Bono, who in the late 1980s saw a film festival as a way to stretch the town's short tourist season, and records that "That first year's Festival, in January of 1990, was an immediate success, drawing more than 17,000 filmgoers in the course of its five-day run". Trina Turk, founded in 1995 as a women's contemporary line, opened its first store in Palm Springs in 2002.
Sources
- NOAA NCEI — 1991–2020 climate normals, Palm Springs Regional Airport (KPSP) stationNOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals for USW00093138, computed from 20–22 years of record rather than 30 (completeness flags R and P). Rain days count 0.01 in (0.25 mm) or more.
- NOAA NCEI — U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, monthly, Palm Springs Regional Airport (USW00093138) — accessed 2026-10-25
- NOAA NCEI — U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (monthly normals by station) — accessed 2026-09-26
- Palm Springs International Film Festival — 38th festival, 7–18 January 2027 — accessed 2026-10-26
- Palm Springs International Film Awards — 7 January 2027: timeline, dress code, bags — accessed 2026-10-26
- Palm Springs International Film Festival — FAQ: lines outside, cold evenings, bags — accessed 2026-10-26
- Palm Springs International Film Society — History: Sonny Bono and the first festival, January 1990 — accessed 2026-10-26
- Getty Images — Slim Aarons at the Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, January 1970 — accessed 2026-10-26
- Getty Images — Slim Aarons, Poolside Gossip: the Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, 1970 — accessed 2026-10-26
- California State Parks — Mount San Jacinto State Park: winter conditions — accessed 2026-10-26
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway — Winter hours, 5 October 2026 – 27 May 2027, and holiday early openings — accessed 2026-10-26
- Trina Turk — About: founded 1995; first store in Palm Springs, 2002 — accessed 2026-10-26
