November on Highway 62: Two Free Festivals Where the Hi-Desert Tells Its Own Stories

Two free festivals sit on either side of Joshua Tree in November, a week apart, and both draw their material from the same place. The Yucca Valley Film Festival runs November 6 to 8 at the Yucca Valley Community Center. The Twentynine Palms Book Festival follows on November 13 to 15 at the Twentynine Palms Community Center on Freedom Plaza. Between them you have films shot in Landers, Amboy, Wonder Valley and Joshua Tree, plus readings at a desert cemetery and at The Palms in Wonder Valley.

For anyone who lives off Highway 62, this is the rare stretch of the season when the arts calendar is about the place itself. Drive west or east on the highway and much of what you see and hear was made in or about the Morongo Basin.

The film festival turns the camera back on the Basin

The Yucca Valley Film Festival is in its eighth edition, and the numbers show how it has grown. The festival reports more than 600 submissions from 34 countries this year. It selected 52 films and 23 competition scripts from that pool. A record 21 local artists made the official competition, and 12 filmmakers are coming back after earlier editions. The festival says it has a large selection of shorts, features and documentaries shot in Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Landers and across the Mojave.

When Z107.7 reported on the call for entries in September, it said Morongo Basin filmmakers could submit for free and that local filmmakers were especially encouraged. Here are the selections with the clearest ties to the area, by day:

• Friday, Nov. 6: HEELS, a music video set in the Mojave with local artists Luke James and Dennis Procopio, and THE LONG CON, a crime romance set in the desert from local director Aitch Alberto.
• Saturday, Nov. 7: PUNK ROCK LOVE SONG, shot among the Joshua trees in Landers with local artists Ruby James and Eddie Spaghetti, and HELLO UNIVERSE, filmed in Amboy and Wonder Valley.
• Sunday, Nov. 8: STAY HYDRATED, set in the Hi-Desert and featuring local artist Palo Xanto, and SUNSHINE, which shot its story footage in Joshua Tree.

The weekend is free and starts Friday at 5 p.m. with a red carpet in the courtyard. Gunfighters for Hire perform twice between 5 and 6, and the California Welcome Center hosts a drinks and information table. The program page has a link to reserve a free spot for opening night, so it's worth filling out before you go. On Saturday there's a roundtable for scriptwriters and composers, screenings in the morning, afternoon and evening, and animated films for kids and families at 1 p.m. The festival's own pages list different start times for Saturday morning, and it notes that the program may change. Check the day-by-day page the night before.

Sunday is aimed at working filmmakers. A group leaves at 8 a.m. for an industry visit to WhiteHorse Ranch, screenings start at 1 p.m., a mentorship session follows at 4, and closing remarks and awards come at 5. Awards include Best Script, Best Music Composer, Best Trailer and Best Poster.

There are also two earlier nights, November 4 and 5, at the Paradigm Theater in Yucca Valley, presented by the Joshua Tree Film Office. The theater is at 56401 29 Palms Hwy. Titles, showtimes and prices for those nights haven't been posted yet, and the free-admission note on the festival page covers only the Community Center weekend.

The grants pay for the next round of local shoots

The festival is also funding more local filmmaking. The Joshua Tree Film Office helps producers with permits, location scouting and referrals to local crews and services. Together with the festival, it has launched two $500 filmmaker grants, Z107.7 reported: the Lombardo Family Grant and the Soroptimist International Yucca Valley Grant, which goes to a female filmmaker. The grant announcement says each project must shoot at least a one-page scene within the Yucca Valley ZIP code. Applications close November 27, and recipients are expected to be named before the end of 2026.

If you have a short in mind and a location down the road, that deadline is the day after Thanksgiving.

Wednesday the 11th sits between the two weekends

Veterans Day falls on the Wednesday between the festivals. The Town of Yucca Valley lists a free Veterans Day Breakfast for veterans from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Desert Willow Center for Seniors, 57088 Twentynine Palms Highway. Next, the free Morongo Basin Veterans Tribute runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community Center that hosted the film festival a few days earlier. It includes veteran recognition, equipment displays, music and a community barbecue.

The military theme carries into the book festival. On its first morning, retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel John J. McBrearty gives a talk on the history of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, which began as a World War II glider training site. He comes back Sunday at 4:30 p.m. to host a workshop on storytelling as therapy for veterans and their families.

The book festival leaves the building after dark

The Twentynine Palms Book Festival is in its fourth year. It's free, with registration through Eventbrite. Visit 29 Palms lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit 29 Palms lists the Desert General Store as presenter. The festival's site sends book buyers to the store, too. The agenda lists more than 100 authors across 20-plus panels, talks, workshops and offsite events.

As with the film festival, the strongest sessions are about the desert. Each evening, the program moves from the hall to a location that fits the reading:

The "Desert Noir" panel connects the two festivals. Its four projects are presented under the book festival's new Book-to-Screen initiative, and Joshua Tree-based filmmaker Christian Camargo joins to talk about the noir feature he is preparing to shoot in the desert this winter. Readings from local novels on Friday afternoon are pitched as future productions, and the man planning the next local shoot is part of the conversation.

Several sessions are built around local writers. The Friday noon memoir panel features members of the Mojave Sage Writers and the Desert Writers Guild, two groups that have partnered with the festival since its first edition. Katie Nartonis, gallery director of the Hi Desert Artists Gallery, hosts photographer Kate Sterlin at 6 p.m. Friday. On Sunday at 3:30, festival director Patrick Zuchowicki Jucaud hosts "Starting a Second Chapter: Writing After 65." The agenda notes that a growing number of retirees are choosing to make the Hi-Desert home. Families can come Sunday at 9 a.m. for "Poetry for Young Voices," a hands-on workshop for young writers.

Putting the two weekends on the calendar

From Joshua Tree, the Yucca Valley Community Center is west on the highway and Freedom Plaza is east. Here's the order of things:

1. Watch for the Paradigm details. The Film Office nights on November 4 and 5 are the only events in this stretch without posted titles or prices yet.
2. Reserve opening night. Use the free form on the film festival program page for the November 6 red carpet and opening films. Parking around the Community Center is free.
3. Plan Veterans Day morning. The breakfast and the tribute on November 11 are next door to each other on Twentynine Palms Highway.
4. Register for the book festival now. The Wonder Valley reading has its own Eventbrite registration, which opened September 30.
5. Mark November 27. That's the deadline for the two $500 filmmaker grants.

At Ryan Cummings and John & Ryan Real Estate Group, we follow the Hi-Desert's calendar as closely as its architecture, because events like these are part of what living here is like. If you'd like to talk about Joshua Tree over coffee between screenings, we'd be glad to schedule a consultation.