A cow pasture near White Sulphur Springs is home to the Red Ants Pants Music Festival.
Grammy award-winning Lukas Nelson, who recently announced he will be going on a hiatus after this summer season, is among the headliners at this year’s Red Ants Pants Music Festival, July 25-28 in White Sulphur Springs.
The lustrous lineup of 16 Main Stage performers also includes Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, KT Tunstall, Jeffrey Foucault with Eric Roskinen, Bella White and Big Richard, plus 16 side-stage artists.
Wild Horses and the Tanner Laws Band open the festival with a free street dance, 8 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in downtown White Sulphur Springs. Action moves to the Jackson Ranch Friday for three days of roots music, and a celebration of rural Montana.
Special events include horse and wagon driving and sheep shearing demos on Friday evening, meat-processing and carpentry workshops Saturday, and the crosscut saw competition on Sunday.
At 4 p.m. Saturday, Leo Arriwite, a Northern Shoshoni artist and craftsman, demonstrates the traditional techniques he uses to craft Bear Dance rasps, buckskin moccasins, and Northern Shoshoni tanned buckskin gloves.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., see a sampling of all the programs the Red Ants Pants Foundation has to offer. RAP’s Work Skills Courses include chainsaw, carpentry, dovetail joinery, and trailer backing trainings. Additionally, learn about the Community Grant Program and Women in Agricultural Communities Well-Being Retreats.
The 11th annual Red Ants Pants Beard and Moustache Competition begins at 11 a.m. Saturday and is touted as the “best ever.”
Tickets are limited and camping is available ($45 per person). Kids 12 and under are free with an accompanying adult.