Busy weekend on campus ahead for University of Montana

MISSOULA — The University of Montana is preparing for an action-packed weekend.

The University will celebrate fall commencement with 200 new graduates at the Adams Center on Friday, December 15, 2023. The ceremony begins with a processional at 1:45 p.m.

Later Friday evening, the Garden City Ballet hosts the opening night of the Nutcracker across the way from the Adams Center at the PARTV building’s Montana Theater. The show starts at 7:00 p.m.

Their second show will then happen on Saturday at 1 p.m. — just a little over an hour before UM’s football team takes on North Dakota State at 2:30 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in an FCS semifinal game.

Now, the ballet and football events happening in close proximity and at about the same time, which could cause some parking problems which means people may have to park further and walk a bit more to get where you’re going.

“All in all we’re going to have plenty of capacity to be able to host both events at the same time and really our focus is going to be ensuring that the experience is great as it always is and that folks can remain safe as they’re coming and going throughout the day.” UM Director of Strategic Communication Dave Kuntz told MTN News. “So, lots of work has been put in, there’s going to be lots of folks really hard at work on Saturday to make sure all these events can go off as seamless as possible.”

With so much happening in such a short time frame, residence and dining halls will stay open until Sunday so that students will have an extra day to enjoy the activities on campus before winter break.