Things to Do in Missoula, Montana

Missoula, often considered the cultural center of Montana,  is the location of the state's first university, and an eclectic mix of loggers, hippies, college students, sports fans, and retirees. Community events generally take place downtown either outdoors or in one of the several downtown buildings listed on the National Historic Registry.

Since 2006, the River City Roots Festival has been an event each August with music, beer, food, and art, and generally attracts crowds of 15,000.The longest-standing event downtown has been the Missoula Farmers Market that was founded in 1972, which provides an outlet for Western Montana produce on Saturday mornings from May to October as well as Tuesday evenings from July to early September.  An arts and crafts People's Market and a Clark Fork Market run concurrently. Downtown hosts "First Friday Missoula", a gallery walk on the first Friday of the month to feature local art from museums and galleries,  such as that of Monte Dolack. Missoula celebrates "First Night Missoula" on New Year's Eve, which includes food and live entertainment. The "Festival of the Book" to celebrate the literature of the American West was rebranded the "Montana Book Festival" in 2015.  Missoula's two historic theatres both hold annual film festivals: the Roxy hosting the International Wildlife Film Festival, established in 1977 as the first juried wildlife film festival in the world; and since 2003, the Wilma accommodating the largest film event in Montana, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. 

In performance arts, the Missoula Community Theatre has held performances of musical and nonmusical plays since 1977,  with its affiliated Missoula Children's Theatre also acting as an international touring program that visits nearly 1,000 communities per year around the world.  Missoula is also home to a number of modern dance companies, including Bare Bait Dance and Headwaters Dance Company. Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre and Garden City Ballet are also based in Missoula.

The Montana Museum of Art & Culture, which became a state museum in 2001, is one Montana's oldest cultural reserves, having begun in 1894; its permanent collection houses more than 10,000 original works.The Missoula Museum of Art is housed in a former Carnegie library; it features contemporary art and annually features 20–25 group and solo exhibits. Fort Missoula is home to the Historic Museum, dedicated to preserving the history of Western Montana, and to the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History and the Northern Rockies Heritage Center. The National Museum of Forest Service History is constructing the National Conservation Legacy and Education Center in Missoula, too.

Opened in 1987, Missoula's Bayern Brewing is the oldest active brewery in Montana. Big Sky Brewing opened in 1995 and with a production over 38,000 barrels in 2008, it is by far Montana's largest brewery, and produces the best-selling beer brewed in Montana, Moose Drool Brown Ale.  Missoula has also been home to Kettle House Brewing since 1995 and Draught Works opened in 2011. Big Sky, Bayern, and Kettlehouse represent the first-, second-, and third-largest breweries, respectively, in Montana.^[86] Also in 2011, Tamarack Brewing and Flathead Lake Brewing Company from nearby Lake County opened pub houses at downtown Missoula locations. The city also holds annual the Garden City Brewfest and Winterfest, and also periodically hosts the Montana Brewers Festival.

The Clay Studio of Missoula is a non-profit ceramic-arts center, which provides education and a community access clay studio.

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