Maclean Festival

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Maclean Festival

Held in Missoula, MT, the 2024 Maclean Festival theme is Finding Our Place in Nature: The Power of Story
September 27-29 State of Montana.

The 2024 In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Festival will draw numerous prominent Native and non-Native American writers to explore the theme Finding Our Place in Nature: The Power of Story. Keynote speakers are Bill McKibben (The End of Nature), Marcelo Gleiser (The Dawn of a Mindful Universe), Rosalyn LaPier (Invisible Reality: Storytellers, Storytakers and the Supernatural World of the Blackfeet), Gretel Ehrlich, Rick Bass, Kurt Caswell, Mari Margil, and The Youth Plaintiffs of Held vs.

08/31/2026

One day only! On Sunday, September 20, at 2 and 5 pm, the Norman Maclean Festival presents A River Runs Through It at the Roxy Theater in Missoula. After the film, Noah Snyder, grandson of Norman Maclean, will tell stories and answer questions about his experience as an extra in A River Runs Through It and share memories of his grandfather. The full 6th biennial Norman Maclean Festival is scheduled for March 12-13, 2027 at The Wilma and other Missoula locations.

08/13/2026

Own a piece of conservation history!

The Maclean Festival is promoting a silent auction of a Monte Dolack print originally commissioned by The Nature Conservancy in the early 1980’s to promote the preservation of the Blackfoot River. This beautiful print is presented in museum-quality framing. Silent auction begins at the “Come for the River, Stay for the Stories” event at the Kettlehouse Brewery in Bonner, Sunday, August 16 at 1pm.

More at www.macleanfootsteps.com.

08/12/2026

The Maclean Festival’s “Come for the River, Stay for the Stories” event on Sunday, August 16 at 1pm will feature absorbing tales of the history of the Camas prairie in Potomac, an early effort to flood the valley, tales from a homesteader and the story of the E Bar L Guest Ranch. These stories will be followed by critical updates from MEIC on their lawsuit to stop the proposed gold mine near Lincoln, the latest news on the proposed gravel pit and asphalt plant on the Blackfoot, and the progress of the A River Runs Through It Act in Congress. FREE.

Join us at 1pm, at the Kettlehouse Brewery in Bonner. Food by the Blackfoot Picnic Basket. Music by Raised by Wolves.

More information at www.macleanfootsteps.com.

08/11/2026

Join our Maclean Festival Conservation Tour at 1pm, Saturday August 15 and learn more about the technique of conservation easements and how they have impacted the Blackfoot Valley. Hear the deep history of the E Bar L Ranch from Juanita Vero, get updated on ranch conservation by Blackfoot Challenge Chair Jim Stone, and learn about the successful conservation of the historic Case Ranch.

Pre-registration for the tour is required at macleanfootsteps.com. Tickets are $20 per person. Meet the bus at Kettlehouse Brewery in Bonner at 1pm. If you’re coming from the East, meet the bus at 1:30 at the Roundup Boat Launch, just north of Hwy 200 at Nine Mile Road. Parking available there.

“Come for the River, Stay for the Stories”

08/05/2026

“Come for the River, Stay for the Stories”

Don’t miss the Maclean Festival’s Tour of Norman’s Favorite Fishing Holes – including traveling to the “Old Clearwater Bridge” where Norman and Paul started their day of fishing. This site was represented in the poster for the film, “A River Runs Through It”. This is one of three sites in this exciting tour led by Jerry O’Conner, Big Blackfoot Riverkeeper.

✨Saturday, August 15, 1pm. Pre-registration is required at macleanfootsteps.com. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at the bus.

08/04/2026

Cokahlarishkit – this is what the Salish and Pend d’Oreilla Nations called “the River of the Road to the Buffalo”, a route they used to hunt bison on the Great Plains. Conservation easements were placed on state lands adjoining the Blackfoot near Johnsrud Park back in the 1980’s. Join our Maclean Festival Conservation Tour at 1 pm, Saturday August 15 and learn more about the technique of conservation easements and how they have impacted the Blackfoot Valley. Pre-registration for the tour is required at macleanfootsteps.com. Tickets are $20 per person, purchased at the bus.

📸: Juan de Santa Anna

07/27/2026

Step into the landscape that shaped a literary classic.

More than 50 years ago, Norman Maclean wrote “A River Runs Through It” on the porch of his family cabin overlooking picturesque Seeley Lake. On Sunday, August 16, at 10am, the Maclean Festival invites you to explore “Norman’s Neighborhood” in Seeley Lake on a self-driving tour that begins at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and continues to the Maclean family cabin and other places where Maclean found beauty, memory, and inspiration. Donations accepted.

More information at macleanfootsteps.com/Tours.

07/22/2026

Remarkable!

The Blackfoot Valley is now 88% conserved through decades of grassroots commitment. Join Jack Wright, co-author of “Saving the Big Sky”, for a guided bus tour of landmark sites beginning at the KettleHouse Brewing Company on August 16th at 1pm, including the Case Ranch, the E Bar L Guest Ranch, and more!

Pre-registration is required at macleanfootsteps.com. Tickets are $20 per person, and can be purchased at the bus.

07/20/2026

🎣Norman’s Favorite Fishing Holes tour on the Blackfoot River is back! Join us Saturday, August 15, for a three-hour bus tour departing from KettleHouse Brewing Company in Bonner at 1pm. The tour includes readings at three scenic river sites.

✨Pre-registration is required at macleanfootsteps.com. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at the bus.

07/18/2026

“COME FOR THE RIVER, STAY FOR THE STORIES”!

Join us at a FREE event at the Kettlehouse Brewery in Bonner on Sunday, August 16th at 1pm. Be inspired by personal stories of conservation plus an update on the threats to the river from Juanita Vero of the E Bar L Guest Ranch, Annick Smith, co-producer of “A River Runs Through It”, Kim Briggeman, Bonner Historical Society, Steve Kloetzel, TNC and a speaker from MEIC, which has filed a lawsuit against the proposed gold mine near the Blackfoot. Moderated by Jack Wright, author of “Saving the Big Sky”.

✨Music provided by Raised by Wolves. Food by the Blackfoot Picnic Basket food truck.

Address

Seeley Lake, MT
59868

Telephone

+14067540034

Website

http://www.macleanfootsteps.com/, https://www.tickettailor.com/events/alpineartisansinc/1128412

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