An Ri Ra Irish Festival Returns to Butte This Weekend

Once again, the streets of Uptown Butte will be hopping with music and festival-goers.  This time, the An Ri Ra Irish Festival makes it's return to town after a 2-year Covid-related hiatus and Butte is more than ready.  Over the past week, crews have been busy preparing and assembling the Original Mineyard's stage area and commons for music, dance and displays, while city crews have been busy decorating the whole Uptown with Irish flags and shamrocks.

The An Ri Ra is known as much for it's workshops as it's music and dance performances and this year will be no different.  The Trinity Irish dance school will be holding workshops on Friday and for a nominal fee, prospective students will learn techniques from one of the leading Irish dance schools in the world with workshops taking place at St. Mary's Church.  Butte Brewing Company will also be a hotspot on Friday as Cathy Ryan's presentation on the Celtic Year in ancient Ireland begins at noon, followed by legendary Irish musician Rory Makem at 11.  At noon, author Michael Punke and Aubrey Jaap present a fireside chat with the topic being Michael's book "Fire and Brimstone" which is a remarkable story about the 1917 Granite Mountain fire that took the lives of 167 Butte Miners.

The musical lineup?  This year, it's truly world-class.  Performers this year will again include The Prodigals, Mick McAuley, the Irish Music Master and local-favorite Dublin Gulch along with shows from Rory Makem and Donel Clancy.

A complete rundown of the weekend's events can be found here.