Butte businesses hoping summer music events will make up for canceled festivals

BUTTE — With both the Montana Folk Festival and the An Ri Ra Irish festival canceled this year, a Butte business owner is pushing to have the weekly Music on Main event returned to Uptown this summer.

“And I know that it’s something the community wants because I hear it at least once a day, people asking whether or not we’re going to be able to have it and hearing the excitement in their voice,” said M&M owner Selina Pankovich.

Pending approval from Butte's Council of Commissioners, Music on Main could start June 24 and a block party hosted by Matt Boyle on July 2.

Events like these would help businesses that depend on traffic from the festivals.

“We love the foot traffic, we love when people come in, we need those people to be up and around, the energy to get moving again up here,” said The Blend owner Jessika Sayler.

Local musicians are looking forward to playing again.

“I missed performance, I missed being on the road, I missing meeting new people, seeing new places,” said Butte singer and songwriter Chad Okrusch.

Okrusch is working on starting a new music festival in Anaconda for next year called Uncle Chad’s Americonda Fest.

“This network of awesome musicians that have become my family and I want to share them with my other family with Butte and Anaconda,” he said.

And getting the streets of Butte alive with the sound of music is something they hope will help all the businesses in this area.

“It feels like it’s time for us to get back to normal, we’re the second-highest in the state for getting the vaccinations, so I feel like it’s time for us to get back to normal and the people are showing us that,” said Pankovich.