BUTTE — The Montana Folk Festival is underway in Butte, bringing a wide variety of music and people together from all over for three days of free arts and entertainment.
“Magnificent talent, top-line acts, and just the variety of the—I mean, everything from violinists to dancers to the Cajun bands, Quebecois,” said Clarence Beede of Proctor, MT.
Many come to the festival from out of state just about every year. They say it’s worth the travel.
“The fact that they can keep it free, donations, with the variety of music. I don’t think you’d find it anywhere else, I really don’t,” said Idaho resident Donna Wahoff-Stice.
Many travelers take advantage of the free camping at McGruff Park and set up tents or park their RVs to stay overnight during the festival. Regular visitors say it’s like a small community.
“I’ve never seen any problems with anybody arguing or fighting or anything. Some people tend to party a little later in the evening than others, but never heard a cross word spoken, really,” said Beede.
For some, staying in a tent isn’t really roughing it.
“We’re wilderness backpackers, so we got port-a-potties, we got coffee shops, so it’s not a big deal for us,” said Boise resident Paula Pintar.
The Marine Corps League next to the park prepares and sells breakfast to the campers during the festival as part of their fundraising efforts.
“We’ve met so many different people, people from different countries come in, you know, they camp out, they come over, have breakfast with us; it’s nice to talk to the people,” said Robert Chansler of the Marine Corps League.
The festival will continue Saturday and Sunday with six different stages throughout Uptown. To see a schedule of performances, visit the Folk Festival's schedule web page.
