WELCOME to the heart of Montana

There is almost always something to do in Great Falls. Some of the city's most popular entertainment has become fundraisers from local non-profits. Below is a list of some of the most popular.

Check out Hot Ticket, in the Great Falls Tribune each Friday for the most up-to-date schedule of Great Falls happenings.

January

• The Montana Pro Rodeo Finals is held in Great Falls each January.
• The three-performance rodeo annually attracts near-sellout crowds of more than 3,500 to Four Seasons Arena.
• The Margarita Meltdown is a tropical oasis awaiting visitors to the Four Seasons Arena in one of Great Falls' most popular fundraisers. The event is scheduled for Jan. 29 at the Four Seasons Arena from 5:30 to midnight. The Meltdown, a major benefit for Eagle Mount, features entertainment, food and drink. With the help of Eagle Mount employees and volunteers, the Four Seasons Arena becomes a sandy, tropical paradise interspersed with cabanas, tables and buddy bars. Local businesses and organizations buy cabanas on "private islands" and decorate their space at a party the night before. Eagle Mount is a nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic and recreational activities for children and adults with physical, mental and behavioral challenges. The event is in its fifth year.

February

• Local restaurants compete for bragging rights in the annual Chili Cook-Off at the Mansfield Convention Center in the Civic Center. Each year part of the proceeds from the cook-off benefits a different charity while helping to feed more than 1,000 attendees. A ticket gets you all the chili and beer you can handle from 7 to 10 p.m., and you can dance to a live band until midnight. Chili may be in the spotlight, but there are other tasty offerings. Not only do the winners get recognition for the best chili in town, they also receive a prize package including hundreds of dollars of advertising, courtesy of the Central Montana Radio Network. The judges' top three win a plaque and advertising package. The People's Choice honors are awarded to the establishment that gets the most votes from the crowd.

March

• The C.M. Russell Art Auction is a major event in the world of Western art. One of the most revered figures in the history of Great Falls is its late cowboy artist, Charlie Russell. For a week around his birthday every year, paintings and sculptures of cowboys, Indians, wildlife and Western scenery fill Great Falls. The C.M. Russell Art Auction for four decades was operated as a fundraiser for the Great Falls Advertising Foundation, which then donated a portion of the proceeds to the C.M. Russell Art Museum. In 2009, the museum severed its ties with the Great Falls Advertising Federation fundraiser to start its own auction: The Russell: The Sale to Benefit the C.M. Russell Museum. The museum's auction will run the same weekend. A third art auction, March in Montana, is put on by the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction and the Manitou Galleries during the same weekend. It typically has about the same amount in gross sales as the Ad Club auction. All three auctions will have their biggest sales on the same day, Saturday, March 20.
• The Great Falls Custom Car Show is held annually at the Montana ExpoPark Trades and Industries Building. For three days each spring more than 3,000 car enthusiasts view hot rods, customs, classics, racecars, motorcycles and boats.
• Wine and Food Festival on Saturday, March 27, at the Heritage Inn, will provide an evening of sampling food, fine wine and beer from Montana and surrounding areas. The event features more than 100 wines and beers. Once in the door, sample all the beverages and food you'd like for free from 6 to 9 p.m. The live music starts at 9 p.m. and goes until midnight. Must be 21 years of age to attend.

April

• The Ice Breaker Road Race is an annual rite of spring which began in 1980. It is scheduled for April 25. More than 3,000 runners, joggers and walkers enter the race each year. A series of three races include the featured five-miler, offering a competitive format for the serious runner, a three-mile event, both competitive and recreational, and a one-mile fun-run. Stretching and aerobics begin at the Civic Center a half our before races start. Each registered runner receives an Ice Breaker long-sleeved T-shirt, a unique finisher medal, and a free lunch. The five-mile event features $1,500 first-place prize money in both the male and female divisions. Visit the Web site.
• Great Falls Home and Garden Show is March 26-28. Being green, along with saving some green, just got easier with help from vendors and organizers of this event. The show, sponsored by the Great Falls Home Builders Association, houses more than 300 indoor booths, with dozens of them pushing green, energy-efficient products.

May

• Cruisin' the Drag, now in its 11th year, is May 1. The array of cars, new and old, restored and works-in-progress, that drive into downtown Great Falls makes Cruisin' the Drag one of the state's big stars of the car-show season. While the weather typically cooperates for Cruisin' the Drag, the event always goes on, even if snow is falling — and people always come. Check out the Web site for more information.

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June

• Downtown Great Falls Association's Alive@5 is Great Falls' popular weekly street dance featuring live music with a different band at a different downtown location each Thursday evening for about 10 weeks in the summer. Designed as a family event for all ages, Alive@5 is every Thursday, June through August, starting at 5 p.m. Admission is free. In addition to a featured musical act each week, the event also offers four to five local food vendors serving everything from hamburgers to cotton candy to "porkies" to fruit kabobs, as well as beer, wine and soft drinks. Equally important, there's entertainment for kids, such as inflatable bounce platforms, face painting, fake tattoos and crafts tables. Net proceeds from Alive@5 are used to fund DGFA beautification projects for the downtown area. Most visible is the Christmas-lighting project. DGFA also makes donations to the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Montana.
• Taste of Great Falls, a free event held in a Great Falls park, brings out hundreds of people to savor offerings from local restaurants. It started 20 years ago as a restaurant roundup to raise money for the Christmas lights that brighten downtown Great Falls and the power it takes to run them through the holiday season. However, foodies think of the Taste of Great Falls as an opportunity to enjoy their favorite restaurant eats all in one sweet, summer evening. Local distributors serve domestic beers, microbrews and wine; a live band and dancing round out the evening.
• The Great Falls Farmers Market showcases area produce from corn to candles. In over 27 years the Farmers Market has blossomed into a remarkable production of homegrown fruits and veggies, handcrafted items, ready-to-eat food and friendly folks. More than 100 vendors open shop at the market each week, and musicians of all ages and pony rides add to the fun. For fresh produce, five Hutterite colonies, two out-of-state fruit vendors and several Montana-based produce companies participate. The market is held in the Civic Center's south parking lot on Saturdays from 7:45 a.m. to noon June through September. When local produce comes available in mid-July, another market is added Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• The Great Falls Voyagers, the city's Pioneer League professional baseball team, starts its season in June. The team, which is affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, plays at Centene Stadium at Legion Park, 1015 25th St. N.. It fronts River Drive North and is near Eagle Falls Golf Course. Game times are Monday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. when the team is in town. The club changed the team's nickname in reference to a reported UFO sighting on Aug. 15, 1950, at Centene Stadium, then called Legion Park. The event, reported by former baseball club official Nick Mariana, has been the subject of many studies by scientists and UFO buffs. The Voyagers have at least one more year in their agreement with the White Sox.
• The Lewis and Clark Festival is June 25 through 27. In its 21st year, the Festival highlights events of the Lewis and Clark expedition during their stay in Great Falls in 1806. Observe reenactors in historic dress, taste the foods the expedition ate, smell the burning campfires and understand the adventure along the banks of the Missouri River. Learn how the men worked and what they found.

July

Bluegrass on the Bay is the History Museum's annual fundraiser. Fiddle, banjo and mandolin music fills the air at Oddfellows Park with food and beer in abundance. It is scheduled for Friday, July 16.

The Montana State Fair is held at the ExpoPark in Great Falls at the end of July each year. For nearly 80 years, the fair has drawn thousands of people from across the region to Great Falls. It includes a midway with carnival rides and food vendors, a rodeo, night shows, free entertainment, livestock judging and agricultural exhibits.

August

• The Downpour Festival is a Christian music festival that has grown each year since its inception in 2005. The festival attracts several nationally recognized Christian acts and unites churches within Great Falls. The free event runs three days and attracted more than 15,000 people to Centene Stadium in 2009.

September

• Don't miss A Night at the Ozark jazz performances. World-class jazz musicians from Montana and across the country perform cutting-edge "Ozark" jazz at The History Museum. The Ozark Club was one of the hottest black jazz clubs between Minneapolis and Seattle. Local historians, musicians and the museum, work together to create an authentic jazz club musical and dining experience, attracting sold-out crowds. Night at the Ozark attracts history buffs and jazz aficionados from outside of Montana.
• The annual River's Edge Trail Blues and Brews fundraiser has raised more than $350,000 in the last 13 years. Six hours of music, food and beverages give Blues and Brews the reputation as Montana's best party. Proceeds are matched with state and federal grants to design and construct new trail segments and for trail improvements. Along with the blues, the other stars at the party are the brews. Microbrews, domestic beers, wines and nonalcoholic beverages are available both inside and out.

October

• The What Women Want Expo, Oct. 8 and 9, is a fun, educational extravaganza held every fall. With 240 vendors, the two-day event in the Four Season Arena at Montana ExpoPark attracts more than 5,000 people. Both the Great Falls Clinic and Benefis Health System offer free health testing and activities. Also offered is a variety of products and services, from financial and health matters to cooking, makeup and family life. Speakers range from naturopathic health care for heart disease or sleep medicine to market volatility and the economy. Friday features entertainment with a wine reception to benefit Literacy Outreach and Saturday morning offers a fun run with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

November

• The annual Harvest Howl fundraiser is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Great Falls and the Morning Millennium Rotary Club in Great Falls. The event includes a blues performance, a silent auction, a raffle and dinner donated by local restaurants. Harvest Howl benefits Camp Rotary, a 91-year-old facility located in the Little Belt Mountains between Monarch and Neihart that houses as many as 100 campers at a time in eight girls' and six boys' cabins. The camp offers low-cost accommodations for a variety of nonprofit groups, including children in 4-H, young siblings placed in different foster homes and for children who have had a death in the family. The facility also is used for a camp held by the Montana Air National Guard for children of guard members. The camp's buildings are on a U.S. Forest Service lease dating back to 1916. The main lodge went up in 1917 and, through the years, other buildings followed. The camp is required to follow strict guidelines for maintaining and upgrading the buildings and water and septic systems. Camp maintenance and upgrades provide ongoing projects for the Rotarians, and Harvest Howl is its main fundraiser. Check out the Web site for more information.
• The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art's annual Christmas Collection is an art and fine craft holiday sale of 150 juried artists from Montana and throughout the nation. The extensive range of merchandise includes decorations, fiber, food, glass, jewelry, metal work, wreaths, woolen hats, scarves and sweaters and of course enchanting décor items.
• The Banff International Mountain Film Festival offers an evening of outdoor adventure, action, thrills and stories of mountain living from throughout the world. The annual event is the only fundraiser for the Great Falls Ski Patrol, the folks who get you safely down the mountain when you no longer can do it yourself. The event is held at the Civic Center.

December

• The Downtown Christmas Stroll and Parade of Lights takes place on Central Avenue with musical entertainment on every corner, as well as hot food and beverages. The event kicks off the holiday season drawing crowds of anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000, depending on the weather. Santa makes an appearance and merchants open their doors for holiday shoppers. Traditions include an area where children can decorate holiday trees that will be donated to needy families, Santa's Village, and the Polar Plunge. A perennial crowd pleaser, the Polar Plunge is sponsored by the Montana Law Enforcement Torch Run and benefits Special Olympics. Plungers collect at least $100 in pledges for the privilege of jumping into chest-high cold water in an outdoor pool.