St. Patrick's Day Celebration in Butte, Montana

Butte, Montana hosts the largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the state of Montana. In fact, most Montana cities offer shuttle rides to Butte so everyone can enjoy the music, dances, parties, cuisine, demonstrations, parades, and of course green beer. Butte stretches out their St. Patrick's Day celebration for several weeks, so if you are in the area in March, chances are you will be able to enjoy some form of Celtic/Gaelic entertainment. However, the bulk of the St. Paddy's Day fun will take place on St. Patrick's Day.

The Parade

The Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade kicks off the day's activities. It starts at 11:00 in the morning in uptown Butte. Participants line up on the corner of Mercury Street and Colorado Street to begin the parade route. If you are not familiar with the city, just look for the Mai Wah Museum or the Uptown Pork Chop John's restaurant. These two establishments are next to the parade route starting line. The parade route starts on the corner of Colorado and Mercury and travels east down Mercury to Wyoming Street. Here the parade route veers north onto Granite Street. The parade follows Granite to until it intersects with Montana Street. Paraders then turn west on Montana Street and follow this street until they pass the County Courthouse. Montana Streets turns south and leads the paraders back to Mercury Street and the parade ends at the intersection of Mercury and Dakota Street.

If you want to participate in the Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade, or other Butte St. Patrick's Day events you can visit http://www.butteinfo.org for more information.

Pre-St.Patrick's Day Activities

Around St. Patrick's Day, on the weekend closest to St. Patrick's Day, the city of Butte hosts the Duggan Dolan Blarney Stone Fun Run. This 5K fun run is open to children, adults, and even walkers. The race begins and ends at the Knights of Columbus Hall, which is located at 224 West Park Street in Butte, Montana. After the race Gaelic/Celtic music and dance will take place in a Gathering of the Clans at he Knights of Columbus Hall. Admission to this event is complimentary. If you would like more information about this year's fun run, or the Gathering of the Clans events you can call (406) 782-0742, or write to the fun run committee at PO Box 398, Butte, Montana 59701.

St. Patrick's Day Activities

If you make it to Butte for their St. Patrick's Day celebration you will have a lot of fun to choose from. After the parade the Elk's Club will host a Piper's Luncheon starting at 12:15 p.m. This luncheon is open to the public and is located at the Butte Elk's Club on the corner of Galena and Montana Street. For more information call (406) 782-0742.

St. Urho is also celebrated with food, music, and dance at Cinz's Bar located at 301 e. Mercury Street. For more information about this event contact the Butte Celebration at 782-0742.

At 8:00 p.m. at the McQueen Club the annual Shillelagh shindig takes place. Located at 3250 Helena, Butte, Montana 59701-6300 this event is a crowd favorite and an event you won't want to miss. For ticket information and/or more information you can call (406) 782-7970 or (406) 310-0638.

Also at 8:00 p.m. is Tiller's Folly, which is performed at the Mother Lode Theatre located at 316 West Park Street. For more information, ticket prices, or to reserve tickets please call (406) 723-3602.

If you are still standing by 9:00 p.m. then you will want to head over to The Depot to take part in the Irish Fling. Located at 818 South Arizona Street, this event includes live Irish music performed by the internationally renowned Edmonton Pipe and Drum Corp. For more information about this even you can call (406) 782-2102.