BUTTE — Break out the tin whistles and the bodhrans because Butte is about to celebrate the music, dance and culture of Irish heritage in the Mining City.
“Just a chance to see all the people enjoying a different type of music and enjoying the family atmosphere,” said An Ri Ra Organizer Mike Tutty.
The An Ri Ra Montana Irish Festival starts on Friday, August 8 and continues until Sunday, featuring Irish musicians and dancers from the renowned Trinity Academy to the local Tiernan Dancers.
Watch: An Ri Ra Irish festival returning to Butte this weekend
“I mean, you’ve got free entertainment that would cost you normally $35 $40 a ticket per event, but we’ve got it all for free,” said Tutty.
The event will also feature Irish language and heritage classes for people to become more familiar with the Irish influence on Butte.
“Because Butte was where the Irish were able to come and they weren’t told go find someplace else to work, as they did back east,” Tutty explained. “They had Clark and Daly, so you had both sides represented as far as Catholics and Protestants, and, no question, when you came over here, there was a job.”
The free festival will take place at the Original Mine Yard, which is a historically appropriate place to host a festival dedicated to the history of the Irish in Montana.
“Here you got the mine and right across you got the church. That pretty much sums up what the Irish did: Went to work, went to church and to the bar sometimes, sometimes not,” he said.
The music will start at 2 p.m. on August 8. A schedule of events can be found on the website mtgaelic.org.
