Follow up on Folk Festival

It was a fun day spent with friends Steve and Marilyn, listening to good music. As simple as that. We were there for about 4 hours and I believe we saw 4 performances, on 4 different stages. (The views of the valley were spectacular and I should have taken more photos of everything!) It was unanimous that we liked guitar-fiddle-mandolin-banjo music so we were drawn to those stages. It was also a hot day - 80-ish (it's all relative I know), spent walking the historic district of Butte. The architecture and the old buildings were remarkable and brought back memories of a college class I loved - Architecture History & Appreciation. (Also loved Art History & Appreciation!)

Scott Fore & Spencer Strickland

Eddie Pennington

The Quebe Sisters Band - Yes, we liked them so much in Dillon we had to see them again! Fantastic group! The Seldom Scene
Anyway, the 7 venues were spread out amongst the city blocks of Butte, far enough apart so the performances didn't intrude on each other and far enough apart for us to get a little exercise. There were a variety of international flavored food booths, artists, and craftsmen. There were a variety of performers with something for everyone. The event was free and fun. If the stars align and all is right with the universe next year it probably will be an event to go see again. You could easily spend the 2 1/2 days at the Festival and not see all the performers.

This is a link to a website where you can see biographies of some of the Festival performers and you can also hear their talent. Scroll down the page a little and click on their names - if you want to. http://www.visitmt.com/musicplayer/folkfestivalmusicplayer.html

After writing this I feel I haven't given enough recognition to the enormous amount of talent that was at the Festival. We only touched a tip of the offerings. Having reviewed the Festival websites again, after the event, I realize the gathering of performers was unbelievable and next year we will see more than our usual favorites and step into other music worlds. The National Folk Festival may be an event to take the motorhome to and spend a week in the area. Butte was famous for mining and is deeply rich in history. Spending some time exploring the area would definitely be interesting. Maybe we'll see you there next year.