Family Area

Special attention is given to providing engaging and educational performances and hands-on activities for children and youth, sharing the richness and diversity of many cultures with them.

The Family Activities Area has featured storytelling, workshops, parades, interactive music, quiet games and active games, hands-on crafts and other creative learning opportunities for young audiences and their families, including small, cozy performances of music, dance and other art forms, all designed to be fun for both children and adults.

Come spend an hour or an afternoon at the Montana Folk Festival Family Area, and get ready to enjoy and participate in a variety of activities designed to amaze and entertain children of all ages!

The Family Area is designed to reflect and interpret this year's theme -- "Gathering at the Headwaters: The Influence of the Confluence of Rivers and Riparian Lifeways in Montana and the Mountain West." 

Organized by the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program, the Family Area will offer hands-on, educational activities that draw on local and regional organizations and experts in their fields.

Families can choose from a variety of activities. Moreover, in addition to all of these activities planned for the Family Area throughout the festival weekend, there will be a full schedule of performances in the Family Activities Area that will still feature small sets from performers from the larger performance stages geared toward a younger audience.

It’s white water time for fun and learning in the 2013 Montana Folk Festival Family & Children’s Activity Areas, hosted by the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program. The theme of the festival is Exploring the Influence of the Confluence of Rivers which is appropriate since two major river systems, the Columbia and the Missouri have their headwaters in the area. Kids of all ages will explore different aspects of how rivers have influenced and affected our lives throughout Montanan’s history with hands-on crafts, games, and interactive displays.

Young audiences and their families will also have the opportunity to travel through time with workshops, storytelling and musical fun. Among many other activities, the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program will again be hosting a “Water Race” for kids. Many of the games will include take away crafts and prizes.

This year the large Family Stage will be located on Broadway Street near the Broadway Garage and will feature many wonderful musical artists. A smaller “Children’s Activity Stage” will remain in the traditional Family Area and will feature story time, sing-a-longs, musical performances and science classes for kids.