By LINDA McCARTHY
Two upcoming events in the Garden City are quintessential reasons folks choose to live in and visit the beautiful city of Missoula, Montana. For a unique Missoula experience, don’t miss out on the International Choral Festival July 17-20 and the Missoula Celtic Festival July 26-28.
The International Choral Festival assembles a non-competitive showcase of choirs from around the world, bringing them to Missoula to feature our community and its warm Montana hospitality, provide exceptional and unique choir performances for Missoulians and their guests, and bring a world a little closer through the sharing of music, goodwill and friendship. Held every three years, the International Choral Festival has been a special and unique triennial celebration since Donald Carey and his team of volunteers produced the original festival in 1987.
This year choirs will visit Missoula from the following countries: Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.S. States of California and Kansas. The four-day, button-for-admission ($15) festival provides an exceptional showcase of Downtown Missoula and the University of Montana through the use of 10 different venues, including churches, schools and parks. The Choral Festival’s Opening Showcase will take place at Out to Lunch in Caras Park on Wednesday, July 17 from 11am-2pm.
The 2013 International Choral Festival has been assembled by Executive Director Melissa Blunt and Artistic Director David Heidel with the help of hundreds of volunteers, host families, sponsors and supporters. Missoula is fortunate to be able to host such an exemplary and special world-wide event. See the full festival schedule.
The following weekend will see the Garden City host the fourth annual Celtic Festival of Missoula July 26-28 in Caras Park in the heart of Downtown Missoula. Organized and produced by the Montana Diva Foundation, the Celtic Festival assists the foundation in finding resources for women who want to coordinate, facilitate and enhance their charitable giving in the State of Montana.
The admission-free Celtic Festival opens Friday at 5:30 pm with the Consul General of Ireland and will showcase exceptional music by Hanz Araki & Kathryn Claire, the Langers Ball, and Screaming Orphans. Saturday’s activities open at high noon and feature two performance stages throughout the day until 10 pm, including the Missoula Irish Dancers, Malarkey, the Fighting Jamesons and Missoula’s own Celtic Dragon Pipe Band. Saturday will also highlight children’s activities from 12-6 pm including Irish Dance lessons, storytelling, Celtic Donkeys and contests for children with freckles and/or red hair. Other activities include Road Bowling near Florence, Montana and an Irish Hurling Clinic and Exhibition Game on Sunday. See the full schedule of events.
Missoula could be tagged Montana’s Festival City because we have more festivals than any other community in the region. That’s part of what makes Missoula…..well Missoula. Quality events that bring people together to celebrate art, music, culture and community contribute significantly to our quality of life in the great Garden City. Come see what we’re talking about!
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Linda McCarthy has been a Missoula resident for more than 25 years and serves as Executive Director of the Missoula Downtown Association, a private non-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to promoting, supporting and enhancing the vitality of Downtown Missoula. She and her family live in the Farviews Neighborhood, and her husband, Tom Gallagher, is a computer science professor at UM’s Missoula College. Linda holds two degrees from The University of Montana and was the 2008 Montana Alumni of the Year.
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