Missoula’s St. Patrick’s Day 2025

Being a member of a bagpipe band in Montana is an adventure. It is especially exciting during the week of St. Patrick's Day.

It's no surprise that Butte is a special place to be on St. Patrick's Day. Their parade is one of the biggest in the state and traditionally is held on St. Patrick's Day, regardless of what day of the week the holiday lands on. Other towns, like Missoula, usually hold their parade on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

Our pipe band, The Celtic Dragon Pipe Band, gets asked frequently why we don't go to Butte for the St. Patrick's Day parade. The answer is simple, we have a lot of gigs we play in Missoula that help fund our band. As a matter of fact, the weekend around St. Patrick's Day and the holiday itself are the busiest days we have all year long.

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To put it into perspective, the band started playing on Saturday morning for the annual Run for the Luck of It at 9:30 a.m. and we finished our final gig of the day after 8:30 p.m., with a parade thrown into the mix. This year all of that happened before the actual holiday.

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St. Patrick's Day in Montana also has the added bonus of never knowing what the weather will be like. This year, for example the parade happened during a snow storm. Last year it was a sunny day with temperatures in the 60s.

Playing in a pipe band offers a different experience of the holiday. We get to see the excitement and the partying, and then we move on and do it all again at a different bar or restaurant.

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Thanks to the band, the Missoula Highland Dancers, the establishments that hire us and the revelers who cheer us on and make every St. Patrick's Day an adventure. Don't forget to support your local pipe band and we will see you next year on Saturday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 17, 2026. We already have those dates saved on our calendars.