A past Dinah Shore Weekend.__________
Dinah Shore Weekend, the biggest lesbian party of the year, will take place March 28-April 1 in Palm Springs, Calif. Founder of Club Skirts, Mariah Hanson, has been producing Dinah Shore Weekend for 17 years, and each year the party gains more and more attention.
Women come from all over the world to attend the events. This year, 34 celebrities are booked and some hotels are already sold out. Windy City Times spoke with Hanson over the phone to find out what's in store for guests of Dinah Shore Weekend 2007.
Windy City Times: What can visitors who have never been to Dinah Shore Weekend expect?
Mariah Hanson: It's five days of the most outrageous, amazing parties imaginable. Women are coming from all over the world for this event with one goal in mind, to have the time of their life. Every year I think we deliver on that.
WCT: Tell me about the pool party events.
MH: The pool parties are virtually a sea of women, dancing, sunbathing, flirting, enjoying the hot Palm Springs sun…LOGO Networks is sponsoring our Saturday Pool Party at The Doral, and they are providing their actresses from both Curl Girls and Exes and Oh's. Sunday Showtime/The L Word is hosting our party at The Doral. Bitch and The Exciting Conclusion is performing, as well as Betty…the parties at The Wyndam will also be packed and will feature Mary Delany and Sarah Bettens.
WCT: What is the biggest event of the weekend?
MH: Friday night White Diamonds and Saturday night Milan are always our largest events, with an expected attendance of over 4,000 women each night. India Arie is performing Friday night and bringing her 14 piece band…Saturday night we feature L Word actresses Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey, a Showtime L Word fashion show and a slew of lesbian celebrities, including Honey Labrador, Amanda Bearse, and more.
One of the more exciting events we're doing is Be Scene. That's with Katherine Moennig, Leisha Hailey and Ilene Chaiken. Prior to the Milan Party, there will be about a thousand people in the ballroom, either participating in or watching the acting out of people's favorite L Word scenes. Ilene, Kate and Leisha are judging it, and it's going to be filmed for later programming. It's going to be a lot of fun. It will be very intimate, very special for the people there.
WCT: Could you talk about some of the other celebrities that will be there?
MH: This year Kathy Griffin is filming My Life on the D List … [ she ] is staying Thursday. She's going to be at the Suzanne Westenhoefer comedy show, and she's coming to our opening party.
Sandra Bernhard [ will also be there ] . This is a first and it's pretty darn exciting. Her show is comedy and performance.
WCT: Has the event changed much? Also, since this event has been going for 17 years, do you think it will get to a point where it will need to be changed in any way to keep it fresh, or does the changing talent keep it fresh each year?
MH: It has changed. I went from two hotels to five. We have also stepped up the entertainment to levels never seen before at The Dinah. We are addressing the need to keep it fresh and to reflect the changing tastes of the lesbian community.
