BUTTE — The Independence Day parade in Butte is free to roll.
“Fourth of July a lot of people associate with freedom and a lot of people have been looking forward to being free from their houses and being confined and couped up and things like that and so it’s going to be an explosion like a firework,” said parade organizer Matt Boyle.
The Butte Health Board recently lifted COVID-19 restrictions since infection rates have remained consistently low.
The decision will allow events like the Fourth of July Parade to continue this summer.
Last year’s parade, like this year's St. Patrick’s Day parade, was canceled due to the pandemic.
“We’re looking forward to having some real floats hit the streets of Butte, by the time it turns July, it will be the first time floats hit the street in 8 months, so it will be good,” said Boyle.
Boyle is also planning to host regular block parties this summer featuring live music in front of his business on East Galena Street.
He hopes this will make up for the loss of the Montana Folk Festival, which decided to postpone this year’s event until 2022.
“You lose an event like Folk Festival and that hurts a lot, you know, when you take out those big festivals it does a lot of damage. Now that we have a chance to kind of regroup some of those big events I know I’m not going to waste any time,” he said.
Any group that had registered to be in the canceled 2020 St. Patrick's Day parade will automatically be registered for this year's Fourth of July parade.
