BUTTE — The parade floats are all tucked away, the Irish dancers have hung up their shoes, and the crowds have all gone home. As St. Patrick's Day 2024 winds down, local businesses, restaurants, and even Butte’s sheriff say that the weekend’s celebrations were a huge success.
"I thought it turned out really well. The weather was great, people were out, they were having fun and the city did a great job cleaning up after, so I think it was really successful for everyone," says Janice Hogan of Butte Original Gifts, located in the heart of the weekend's celebrations on Main Street.
Hogan spent Monday morning greeting last-minute shoppers looking to pick up gifts and souvenirs before hitting the road. A few blocks away another Butte business welcomed hungry customers after a busy weekend of serving the St. Paddy’s Day crowd.
"We had a fire that took out our entire kitchen on Nov. 5. We’ve been closed since then replacing everything from the ground up," says Lyle Nalivka, the general manager of Sparky's Garage.
Nalivka says his team scrambled to get the restaurant open for the big weekend and he was happy to report that almost all of the staff that worked for him previously had returned.
"We wanted to be here for St. Patrick’s Day—we made it. We opened Saturday and people have been very receptive, so we’re really excited about it," says Nalivka.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers with the Butte America Foundation report that the Mining City saw upwards of 10,000 people who flocked to the Uptown area on Sunday to watch the 125 floats wind through the city. The Uptown area was buzzing with activity all weekend, but despite the large number of visitors, Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester says the weekend was pretty quiet.
"I think we saw surprisingly less arrests than you would expect and I think this was the biggest crowd for 10 or 15 years anyway," says Sheriff Lester. He's been working on St. Patrick's Day for nearly 33 years, so he has a good gauge of prior years.
Between the Montana Highway Patrol arresting 21 people and Butte police arresting four for DUI offenses, Sheriff Lester says the numbers were low compared to prior years.
"I wish we had less DUI’s, but by the same token it looks like we were able to keep most people safe," says Sheriff Lester.
