BUTTE — The events leading up to the Fourth of July parade in Butte will be packed with food, kid-friendly activities, and a fireworks show.
Kicking off freedom fest weekend is the first event to ever be held on July 2: a block party at 34 Galena in front of Collective Elevation. This event is hosted by Butte production company, Montana Booking Agency.
"You know I’ve just wanted to do a concert and I kept saying that we would do some sort of free community celebration, and this is finally the opportunity to do it," said Matt Boyle, owner of Montana Booking Agency.
The opening act of the night will be Missoula band Letter B. The main act of the concert will be Igor and the Red Elvises, a Russian American surf rock band.
Main Street and Wyoming street will be blocked off. There will be food vendors and the concerts start at 6 p.m., running until 11 p.m.
Boyle is the events coordinator in charge of the block party, the Big Bang fireworks show, and organizing the Fourth of July parade floats.
Boyle said that events like these are great for people and businesses after a long time of staying indoors.
"When you get people out, they’re spending money and you know, they’re also getting out of their house and they're being able to see other people and enjoy time with their friends and loved ones who they haven’t seen in a long time," Boyle said.
The Butte July 4th parades can be traced all the way back to the 1800s. One newspaper clipping from 1885 mentions Fire Marshal McCarty announcing a special meeting of the Butte Fire Department to come up with ideas for their float in the parade.
"The parade deadline to get a float in the parade is June 25. We still accept entries after June 25—they’ll just be charged a late fee, so we encourage everybody to try to sign up then." Boyle said.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. MTN will broadcast a recording of the parade after it ends.
