Montana Folk Festival brings heat along with music, food, and art

BUTTE — Butte’s annual Montana Folk Festival is drawing crowds to six stages set up across Uptown Butte, bringing art, food and music — along with some high temperatures.

WATCH: Heat can’t stop the Montana Folk Festival in Butte

Montana Folk Festival brings heat along with music, food, and art

Reggae artist Prezident Brown and his band iSound are among the performers taking the heat in stride. Brown said the dry mountain climate is nothing compared to what he’s used to back home.

“I can honestly say hundred degrees in Jamaica is a whole different story.”

When asked how he’s staying cool, Brown kept it simple.

“Yeah! I just do what I do. I drink water…orange juice!”

The Legendary Ingramettes, a gospel group from Virginia, are also finding Butte’s climate agreeable.

“We have a lot of humidity, and Butte does not. So, I’m enjoying the heat! The dry air!!”

With temperatures peaking around 90 degrees, food vendors are feeling the warmth more directly. Bozeman-based vendor Vickie Backus is working over a hot grill, serving pierogies, a food originating in Eastern Europe.

I ask her how she is keeping cool.

“You know? I’m not. I’m drinking lots of water. I have sunscreen on and I’m just leaning into it.”

Festival-goers wandering between the six stages are largely dressed for the heat — big hats, long sleeves, and sunglasses. At least one person is going barefoot —first-time festival attendee Sean Villere from Missoula says the pavement doesn’t phase him.

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“It’s not that hot yet. I think it might get hotter, but it’s okay right now.”

Villere said he hasn’t worn shoes in a couple of years, including through two winters, and the callouses he’s built up protect his feet from the hot pavement.

Over the years, extreme weather has impacted festival attendance, but this year most people seem comfortable with the conditions.

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