In a small commercial kitchen on Fresh Roots Farm in Polson, Karl Sutton and Darci Jones prepare 6,000 popsicles for the Zootown and Under the Big Sky music festivals. 

“There’s a certain period between four and eight that it’s hot. People are having a good time and they want something cold, and we can get them something cold pretty quickly, but we need a lot of hands to help get them out,” Sutton said. 

When the couple started making the organic Flare Pops more than a decade ago, they frequented many local farmers’ markets and events around the region. 

These days, they’ve cut down on where they sell the popsicles in the summertime — only attending the two music festivals and the Made Fair in Polson. Sutton said the move lessened the workload and was better for retaining the profits.  

An influx of visitors to the area undoubtedly fills hotels, restaurants and retail establishments, particularly when a number of events are happening.  Whether businesses are vendors at events, like Fresh Roots Farms, or supply necessary services, like Mr. Hankey’s porta potties in Kalispell, there is revenue to be made off the summertime rush.

Montana hosts more than 150,000 live entertainment events each year, according to the National Independent Venue Association. This translated into $260 million in economic output in 2025. 

There is a benefit to summer events, said Zak Anderson, executive director of Explore Whitefish. However, he said the focus at the visitors bureau is not just about promoting additional summer visitation, but rather supporting responsible destination management.

“By ensuring that visitors, businesses and event organizers are helping contribute positively to the community experience. Big events present both opportunities and challenges, and it’s important that we understand their full impact,” Anderson said.

Treefort Music Fest in downtown Boise, Idaho, draws a similar crowd as Under the Big Sky (though Boise has double the population of Flathead County). An economic report from Boise State University said the 2025 festival supported nearly 130 jobs, which accounted for associated labor income of $4.7 million. Overall, the festival contributes $6.6 million to the state’s overall Gross Domestic Product. 

Outriders Present hasn’t compiled an economic impact report of the festival, according to Jessica Holley, spokesperson for the event production company. A statement from Outriders said supporting local businesses and creating opportunities within the community is “central to the mission of Under the Big Sky,” and that they prioritize local hiring whenever possible.

“This year, the festival features 16 Montana-based food vendors and has staffed its bars with an estimated 85% local workforce,” the statement said. “Roughly half of all beer offerings come from Montana craft breweries and half of all liquor offerings are sourced from Montana distilleries.”

The festival also serves coffee from Cowgirl Coffee and Wild Coffee Company and sources Montana-raised beef through RANGE. 

Beyond food and beverage, the festival employs residents across ticketing, box office, guest services and shuttle operations, while also partnering extensively with Montana-based vendors, contractors and production teams.

This includes local artisans like Glacier Rim Hats, which has had a booth at the festival since 2021. Owner Becky Horning said the weekend is a whirlwind for her and husband Todd, who started making custom fur-felt hats about five years ago. 

They make 350 palm leaf hats and 30 fur felt hats to prepare for the weekend. 

“It’s busy. I usually lose my voice on the first day, it’s just nonstop,” Horning said. 

During the rest of the year, she runs a small booth at The Toggery in Whitefish, specializing in custom orders.

Making the hats is a passion, like “creating heirlooms,” Horning said. But the pre-made selection sold at Under the Big Sky accounts for more than a third of their annual income. Though they are dog-tired by the end of the weekend, Horning said they leave the event with a little more exposure and a few custom orders to ship out.

ONE BUSINESS owner who deeply understands the mess from a large event is Wesley Alvarado, owner of Mr. Hankey’s Porta Potties and Restroom Trailers. 

Though he is moving and maintaining units all year long, events in the summertime account for his busiest season.

“Once you get the units back, that’s where the real job begins. Pressure washing them and spraying them down with a bleach spray ... That’s always my concept with all this — every person who rents this, you want it to be brand new, like they are the first ones to get it,” Alvarado said. 

Private and public events alike require a place for people to use the bathroom. Among the places Mr. Hankey’s has provided restrooms are weddings, rodeos, farmers’ markets, the Great Northwest Oktoberfest, the Flathead Celtic Festival and the Spartan Race in Bigfork. 

He enjoys being able to help meet a need to facilitate these events. Alvarado said they provide a sense of community and help support local businesses.

“It brings people down there, they spend money and hang out. I also think that’s what makes it still feel like a small town, like a little community. It’s because there’s actually events that everyone could go to,” Alvarado said. 

EVENTS CAN be a draw for those visiting the Big Sky state. In 2023, Montana welcomed over 12.5 million non-resident visitors, spending $5.45 billion, thus contributing to local businesses, from lodging and dining to retail.

Attracting events to the area that both locals and visitors can enjoy has been a focus for Discover Kalispell for several years, according to Executive Director Diane Medler. 

Medler, who retired from her position on June 30, said finding ways to support event organizers and local businesses are some of the highlights of her career at the bureau. 

“Let’s say a larger event like the Spartan Race, we connect a variety of local vendors with the event, so food trucks, a vendor that provides canteens, a vendor that provides ice,” she said. 

Though it’s a goal to spread events over the course of the entire year, Medler said visitors can also take advantage of events that give back to the community during the summer. 

She pointed to the Flathead Waters Cleanup that takes place in August, where volunteers with the Flathead River Alliance clean up trash in and around the waterbodies of the Flathead Watershed. 

“And the Flathead Trails Association recently had their Trails Fest Day, where they offered volunteer training on trail maintenance — they have all kinds of resources there,” Medler said. “At some of these events you can learn skills, get some education and you can give back to our community and our resources.”

In Libby, the annual Riverfront Blues Festival was created to give back to the community. The August event began in 2009 when Trent and Peggy Oelberg wanted to shine a positive light on the community.

The hope was that introducing new traditions and creating exposure to new cultural events could help to rebuild a sense of identity, according to Jonét Moreau with Libby Revitalization Inc., the nonprofit that donates festival proceeds back to the community. 

The festival brings in around nine acts a year, some of which are big names in the blues genre, like Too Slim and the Taildraggers out of Spokane. 

“We get a lot of bands out of the Seattle area, and we get applications from lots of bands every year. It’s a desirable festival,” she said. “It’s got a really good reputation among the musicians. They love being down on the river and we treat them well.”

It has its loyal attendees who enjoy making the trek to Libby from neighboring states, Canada and across the U.S. The festival was also recently mentioned in the national publication Blues Festival Guide, according to Susan Ague, who sits on the Libby Revitalization Inc. board. 

“Bringing music to the community is awesome and the setting doesn’t get any better ... It is fun to see our community come together. It’s six or seven of us [on the board] that run the festival, but we also have around 30 volunteers that weekend that make it run sweetly,” Ague said. 

ARTS AND culture festivals around the region draw in national crowds, like the Bigfork Festival of the Arts, which takes place the first weekend of August in downtown Bigfork. 

There are upwards of 5,000 people who attend the art festival every summer and it attracts vendors from across the country, according to festival co-chair Shannon Bagley. 

“We’re always walking around so I see lots of bags from local vendors, I see people in the restaurants downtown — so it’s a really good thing for downtown Bigfork and Bigfork in general,” Bagley said. 

It’s not hard to find a community event focusing on arts or culture around the region throughout the summer. Arts in the Park, which takes place in Kalispell’s Depot Park every July, is the Flathead Valley’s longest-running arts, crafts and music festival. There are two opportunities to catch arts festivals in Polson — the Flathead Lake Art Festival and the 55th annual Courthouse Art Festival. Both are hosted by Sandpiper Art Gallery and Gifts, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting participation in the arts. 

Medler with Discover Kalispell said these annual events and others that take place on a weekly or monthly basis, like farmer’s markets and the Brash Rodeo Series, give visitors a chance to take part in local traditions. 

“It’s a reason for them to connect with our culture and our communities, and you know, it’s just kind of icing on the cake that a benefit is for us as residents and locals to have such an amazing variety of things to do, particularly over the summer,” Medler said. 

The summer rush is part of the fun for some local businesses, like Jones and Sutton of Flare Pops, who said they are wiped out by the time they’ve sold thousands of popsicles.

The couple hire about three people to help at the music festivals — the revenue from which now supports the majority of their business on the local berry farm. Originally created to better deal with the “not pretty, less marketable” fruit, they started making Flare Pops over a decade ago. 

“I’ve just been reflecting, especially after doing Zootown and the Made Fair, on just how supportive the community has become of our product. Sometimes being a farmer is kind of silo-ish, and it really has helped my overall emotional mood, knowing that people really appreciate the product,” Jones said.

But those purchases also contribute to the local economy. The multi-day Zootown Music Festival generates more than $9 million in new economic output for the Missoula region annually, according to a study by Zenith Economics. The festival draws fans from across the state and beyond and is considered an anchor of the summer tourism economy.

“It’s a reciprocal relationship ... the money we earn goes back into the community. We’re community members, all in all. I think, sometimes people don’t realize when they buy a $6 popsicle — that money really matters,” Jones said.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

    Toronzo Cannon Band at the 2024 Riverfront Blues Festival in Libby. (photo courtesy of Libby Revitalization Inc.)
  

    Attendees dancing at the 2024 Riverfront Blues Festival in Libby. (photo courtesy of Libby Revitalization Inc.)
  

    A festival-goer tries on hats at the Glacier Rim Hats booth at Under the Big Sky Friday, July 12. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    Boots on the lawn as people dip their toes in the creek at Under the Big Sky music festival Saturday. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The Glacier Rim Hats booth at Under the Big Sky Friday, July 12. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    The crowd cheers for Turnpike Troubadours at Under the Big Sky in Whitefish on Friday, July 15, 2022. (JP Edge photo)
  

    Whitefish-based Hannah King returns to the Under the Big Sky music festival stage. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    A Flare Pops popsicle. (photo courtesy of Fresh Root Farms)
  

    Flare Pops are made by Fresh Roots Farm in Polson, which started producing the organic popsicles about a decade ago after looking for a better use of their less pretty, less marketable berries. (photo courtesy of Fresh Root Farms)
  

    Karl Sutton prepares popsicles in their small commercial kitchen in 2017. (photo courtesy of Fresh Root Farms)
  

    The Bigfork Festival of the Arts in 2021. (Kay Bjork/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    A jewelry vendor at the Bigfork Festival of the Arts in 2025. (Steve Mitchell/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    Festival-goers check out the wares at Patagonian Hands of Missoula during Bigfork’s Festival of the Arts Saturday, August 3, 2024. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)
  

    Dylann Billington leaves the gate during the ladies breakaway roping. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)