Chamber anticipates big year for Bigfork events

Twenty nineteen is in the books and we are well into the New Year. Many of us in Bigfork, both personally and professionally, are jumping into the Roaring ’20s, excited and ready for the adventures to come.

For most of us in the business world, the end of the year is an opportunity to gear up and reset for what lies ahead. January seems to take some time to get going. Customers are coming back from vacations, parents and children are readjusting to school routines and business leaders are developing plans for the New Year.

The same is true at the Bigfork Area Chamber office. We welcome new board members, ensure our website is updated with the latest information and check our membership listing. Our goal is to make access to our members, area information and events easy — And looking ahead to the rest of 2020, Bigfork has some unbelievable events on the calendar!

The Children’s Theatre and Community Players will be performing for us in the coming months and the Bigfork Brewfest and Bigfork Independent Film Festival will draw hundreds of people from around the state and region.

Our season kicks off with Clean Your ‘Fork on April 25. After over 80 volunteers come together to make Bigfork beautiful, we invite the entire Flathead Valley to celebrate our restaurants with Taste of Bigfork the following day. May, of course, brings the Montana Spartan Race and Whitewater Festival. This year, the chamber has been working with the Kalispell Visitor’s Bureau to bring the National Spartan Series to town, and with it, national media to Bigfork.

June is spent putting the finishing touches on our two big summer events, the 4th of July Parade and Festival of the Arts. It is unknown how long the Bigfork 4th of July Parade has been taking place, but there are pictures from the 1920s showing Electric Avenue lined with automobiles and American flags. The parade has grown a lot since then, but still maintains its small-town charm, even with thousands of people gathering in our village. The Festival of the Arts will celebrate its 42nd year Aug. 1-2 with artisans set up downtown, raising money for the chamber’s marketing efforts.

We are also looking forward to hosting the Montana Dragon Boat Festival again in September, which brings visitors from around the U.S. and Canada. This event has brought in over $6 million to the Flathead Valley since its inception. Bigfork particularly benefits with the race in Bigfork Bay and sits nicely within our tourism shoulder season.

The economic impact of all these events is the motivating factor for the chamber, and other groups, who work so hard to create an unforgettable experience in Bigfork. We love our town and want to show it off. We also want our businesses to be successful. The events in Bigfork, new and old, bring people to our village who may not have been before. It’s a chance to flaunt everything we have to offer and to bring new customers into our stores.

However you started your new year, we hope you will take time to support the annual events in Bigfork by attending, volunteering and taking a moment to explore a shop you may not have before. ¦