5 Best Performing Arts Venues in Missoula, Kalispell, Missoula, and Northwest Montana

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Missoula is home to several film festivals each year, but the biggest and best of them is the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West. Over the course of a week in late February, 20,000 people watch more than 140 of the most compelling films from all over the world, dozens of them making their premieres. Most of the films are shown in the Wilma Theatre, a state-of-the-art venue with the character of a 1920s theater. For the locals, it is an annual ritual, and visitors, too, come from all over to spend a week watching films and hobnobbing with directors. This makes the cold month of February a perfect time to visit Missoula.

Kettlehouse Amphitheater

Located on the banks of the legendary Blackfoot River 8 miles west of downtown, the Kettlehouse Amphitheater has helped put Missoula on the map as a mecca for live music. This 4,250-seat outdoor concert venue allows concertgoers to enjoy their favorite bands in a beautiful mountain setting. Recent shows include Nora Jones, Robert Plant, The Decemberists and Primus.

Missoula Children's Theatre

At the Missoula Children's Theatre, year-round productions vary from Broadway musicals to community theater for and by children from 5 to 18 years old. From October to June you can see local talent and guest artists (usually professionals) perform family favorites, and in summer there's a theater camp where kids are the stars of the productions.

Recommended Fodor's Video

Montana Book Festival

Western Montana, and Missoula in particular, is a writer's place. A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean, is perhaps the most well-known book set in the region, but William Kittredge, James Crumley, Richard Hugo, Rick Bass, Judy Blunt, and many others have also left their mark on Montana literature. In celebration of this history, the Montana Book Festival brings writers and readers together to pay tribute to the tradition of writing in and about the West. Previous literary personalities featured have included James Lee Burke, Jane Smiley, Charles D’Ambrosio, Gretel Ehrlich and David Quammen. If you relish the literature of the West, you'll visit in Montana in late September.

Montana Repertory Theatre

The University of Montana's College of the Arts and Media manages the Montana Repertory Theatre, the only full-season professional company in the state. The Rep provides the region with a steady diet of popular Broadway shows; recent showings include War of the Worlds, Room Service and On Golden Pond.