It's FINALLY spring in Missoula, and even though the live music season never really ends around here, it’s about to kick into high gear as warm weather and sunshine replace the doom and gloom of what feels like the longest winter we’ve ever had in Montana. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to not awkwardly lugging a heavy winter jacket around a venue.
Of course, Missoula is famous for its high-profile outdoor concerts, and there is certainly an impressive lineup of touring bands planning to bounce through Missoula over the next few months (is anyone else as excited as I am for Manchester Orchestra?!?!), but there’s also a wonderfully eclectic collection of local indoor and outdoor concerts, events and community gatherings scheduled in the Missoula area this summer as well. I’ll be keeping you updated on some fabulous upcoming local shows, but for now, let’s talk about some of the biggest community gatherings and events that summer in Missoula has to offer.
Just ahead in May, we’ve got the Queer Prom on May 5th and 6th at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. This year’s theme is “A Night at the Circus”, featuring a live dj, circus acts, a cash bar and a raffle. The May 5th event is an adults-only (18+) show, with tickets available at only $18-$20, but they’ve expanded to include a teen night (ages 13-18) the next day, on May 6th! On the second night, everything is included from the adult night (except the alcohol of course), and the teen night event is FREE! A HUGE thanks goes out to the Western Montana Community Center and Queer Prom MT for creating such a cool, inclusive event. You can find tickets here.
Also on Saturday, May 6th, it’s finally time for opening day of the Missoula Saturday Market! The Saturday market is one of my favorite things about Missoula and I look forward to its grand opening every single year. Where else can you go to find fresh garden veggies, local honey, hot coffee, pastries, breakfast burritos, and beautiful handmade toys and clothing creations, all in one place, while enjoying a variety of talented local musicians entertaining the crowd? If you’ve never been, it’s absolutely time you find out what a magical place the Missoula Saturday Market really is. You can check out their website here.
The 2nd annual Food Truck Festival will take place on May 12th at Ogren Park Allegiance Field, complete with field games, entertainment, food competitions and cuisine from around the world featured in one beautiful place.
And a little further out, in June, we’ve got Missoula Pride to look forward to! They’re coming back bigger, louder and with more pride than ever this year. Missoula Pride is looking for volunteers, and you can find out more about that here.
And of course, there’s the always outstanding River City Roots Festival in August, which features dozens of local, regional and national music artists, community games, attractions and food trucks. This event shuts down a good portion of the Missoula downtown area for a few days every year so we can all revel in a ridiculously fun street party. River City Roots is put on by the Missoula Downtown Association and it just shimmers with everything fun about the Missoula community. You can check out their website here. Don’t miss this one!
And finally, there’s a strange Missoula festival that’s been gathering momentum in the last few years. It’s called Totfest, and it’s a combination music-and-food festival that was born out of a local musician’s quest to find the perfect tater tot casserole recipe. In its fourth year, this event features rock and metal music from local and regional acts, a tater tot casserole bake-off, tater tot eating competitions and of course copious amounts of tater tots and toppings available for hungry music lovers. Totfest will take place this year on August 19 at the Sunrise Saloon/Dark Horse Bar complex in midtown Missoula. All the proceeds from this festival go to local charities, so you can consume all the tots and music you want, and feel great about it. Check back later this spring for more information on this year's Totfest!
These are just a few of the many, many fun community events you have to look forward to this summer. Missoula is just bursting with so much local talent and culture, and KFGM is on the hunt for more local events to feature. If you have a community event you’d like us to spread the word about, send us a message!
We’ll see you out there!