Butte, Montana, United States
Saint Patrick’s Day in Butte is one of the biggest local
parties of the year, a true blowout by standards of the Northern Rockies
region, something for which people come from hundreds of miles around to
attend. That’s not saying too much since
people in this part of the country don’t mind driving long distances. And why is that? Well, Butte/Silver Bow County claims to have
the highest percentage of Irish residents of any city or county in the country,
a claim confirmed by census statistics on ethnicity. It’s something like over a third of the
population in a mining city that attracted immigrants from numerous European
countries and a few Chinese in its heyday.
But the Butte Irish have been in the U.S. for over a century and not
replenished with new Irish blood as the communities in New York and Boston were
up through the 1990s when Ireland became the “Celtic Tiger” and immigration no
longer became necessary for personal betterment.
A second reason Saint Paddy’s Day in Butte is such a big
deal is that it’s a more fun party than elsewhere in the country.
In Montana
there’s no state open alcohol container law, so you can legally walk down the
street drinking a beer or a mixed drink in a cup. There are a number of cities in
the state that have such open alcohol ordinances, but working class super-Irish
Butte is not one of them. Thus, the
party continues through the afternoon and apparently well into the evening long
after the parade has ended.
I attended the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Butte once in
2009 when I was in Montana to visit my cousin Deb and do some skiing…..and also
scope it out as a possible place to live.
I recall it being fun, but I was alone so kind of an outsider for it. I
intended to go again in 2020 after I moved to the state, but the Covid plague
hit and it was cancelled. It didn’t fit into my schedule in the interim years.
In looking for places to ski during Marc’s visit, I honed in on Discovery Ski
area to the west of Butte and realized we could combine it with the
parade. Marc was game for it.
Nowadays there are only about 35,000 people in Butte/Silver
Bow County, but supposedly around 30,000 people attend the parade. Being on an
unusually warm, sunny Sunday this year, I’m sure the crowd lining the circular
parade route through Uptown Butte was a historically large one. Most folks were decked out in green and had a
beer or other adult beverage in hand.
When in Rome, do as the Romans!
Having recently returned from Europe where I attended two big
three-day long Carnival celebrations, Saint Paddy’s Day in Butte was kind of
small potatoes in terms of scale.
The
parade took about an hour and a half to pass and included a number of floats,
some marching bands, an Irish dance troupe, bagpipers, and lots of trucks
advertising local businesses.
Oh, and it’s very political, with local and statewide
candidates from both parties walking with their friends and family and
supporters. Butte is a very Democrat
town in a mostly Republican state, but what I found interesting was that the
large Democrat contingent looked no different from the significantly smaller
Republican one in personal appearances.
In most places in America, groups from the two main political parties
tend to be significantly different in terms of ethnicity and demeanor,
especially since one side of the political spectrum has embraced face piercings
and clown-colored hair, but not in working-class 98% White Butte. Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke walked in
the parade; I recall attending a luncheon two years ago when he was running for
the office when he said something to the effect of, “I don’t mind the Democrats
in Butte. At least they stand for the national anthem.” It’s still a patriotic place, in contrast to university
towns where Democrats tend to be far-left extremists.
When the parade was over, the party was just beginning. With
good weather people were spilling out of the bars and into the streets where there
were food trucks galore. I heard a rumor about there being live music but
encountered none. Marc has a keen
interest in history and was quite fascinated by Butte, a very unique American
town. So we took our own walking tour of
the historic district before continuing on to Anaconda for the night.
2025-05-22