Driving to the Folk Festival? Here are some parking tips to avoid the madness.

Well, the big weekend is finally here.  The Montana Folk Festival has arrived, and we can expect three days of incredible music from all over the globe, unique cuisine, one-of-a-kind crafts and thousands of people converging on the Mining City.  With several stages spread across the eastern perimeter of Uptown Butte and several street closures going into effect, parking will again be a challenge this year.

The Montana Folk Festival will literally be taking place in Uptown neighborhoods, so please be mindful of residents' personal parking spaces.  In fact, you may want to avoid the Uptown area altogether and take advantage of the shuttle service that will be running all three days.  Butte-Silver Bow and Para-Transit will be providing extended shuttle service to the Montana Folk Festival from the Butte Civic Center and McGruff Park to the festival grounds with stops at the Dance Pavillion on Broadway Street and the main stage at the Original Mineyard.  The shuttle is free and will run on Friday, July 12th from 5pm to 11pm, Saturday, July 13th from 11am to 11pm and on Sunday, July 14th from 11am to 7pm.  Times will vary but the shuttle service will run continuously during those hours.

If you do not wish to use the shuttle service it is safe to say that there is going to be some walking involved.  The Butte-Silver Bow Parking Garage with entrances on Park and Galena Streets may be a viable option as on-street parking will be practically nonexistent.  Remember, if you do find a space, please do the right thing and make sure it does not belong to a resident.