Celebration, Community, and Nourishment Comin’ Right Up: Meet The 2024 Old Salt Festival Lineup
In just 60 days, we’ll be gathering on the Mannix Family Ranch to celebrate the 2nd Annual Old Salt Festival.
And just like the conservation work done on all the Old Salt ranches, the work going on behind the scenes of the Old Salt Festival involves planting the many seeds for this coming celebration of renewal just as Montana tips into summer.
Turns out, the summer equinox is the perfect time to party.
With that in mind, we want to share some of the great people, food, and opportunities to grow your own knowledge at this year’s festival.
Small Bites, More Big Flavors
This year, we welcome back Chef Eduardo Garcia of Montana Mex, and Chefs Mona and Jarret from Tournant PDX. We’re also thrilled to welcome Chef Spike Gjerde of Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen as our third culinary expert.
For 2024, we decided to pivot from the 2023 Grand Meal format. Instead, each chef is offering up a series of 3-4 bites (small plates) over a four-hour period. Small plates stretch each chef’s artistic palette, while also allowing attendees to expand the range of flavors experienced each day. And, like last year, the chefs are focused on using Old Salt Co-op meats integrated with heritage-sourced ingredients.
The menus are currently being finalized, but what we’ve seen from the chefs’ ideations thus far includes an array of everything from tallow tartare to a raw oyster bar to paella with a romescan flair. Once we have more details, we plan on posting the menus here.
Chef Eduardo will be cooking on Friday, the Tournant crew takes the stage on Saturday, and Chef Gjerde takes over for Sunday brunch.
Musical Momentum
It wouldn’t be a true celebration without music, and thanks to our hard-working crew behind the scenes, the 2024 lineup is deep, deep, deep with talent.
Headlining the festival, you can expect to see fun and folksy bluegrass trio The Last Revel on Friday night, Nashville darling Emily Nenni on Saturday night, and Texas heartstopper Summer Dean will close the festival with a raucous send-off.
Music flows all weekend, with Montana’s most lonesome songwriter Riddy Arman, Sterling Drake’s old-school country energy, cult favorite Rob Quist, and so many more. Check out our poster and schedule for the entirety of our melodic roster, and prepare to dance, sing, and hang with Americana’s top musicians.
A Haven For The Handmade
Our General Store is back and bigger than ever, with more than 40 vendors and non-profits under the big white tent. Specially curated by Erika and Kate Mannix, expect leatherwork, jewelry, fine art, and sustainable clothing goods among other offerings from Western artists.
In addition to our fabulous wares, a wide variety of non-profits will share their missions, information, memberships, and offerings with Old Salt Festival goers. The Old Salt Co-op’s dedication to conservation through agriculture means we’re constantly thinking about land, wildlife, water, and plants — and our NGO program backs that up.
We’re excited to welcome the Blackfoot Challenge, Abundant Montana, The Wilderness Society, and many others to our dedicated crew of conservationists.
Learning is Renewal
Education isn’t optional here at Old Salt; it is fundamental to our ability to grow as an organization and as a community. With that in mind, the Old Salt Festival is on the ball when it comes to creating learning moments woven into the fabric of our celebration.
Want to learn about low stress livestock handling? Dawn Hnatow is an expert at educational stockmanship, and she’s offering two sessions for festival goers. You can also learn about mule packing in two sessions from our friend and wilderness advocate Chris Eyer; you might know him as the Mule Dragger on Instagram.
Additionally, the Western Landowners Alliance is heading up this year’s educational tent. There, you’ll find a full schedule of speakers and sessions that cover everything from range management to stockmanship and beyond. We’ll update this particular schedule when it’s finalized.
A Few More Words About The 2024 Old Salt Festival
The Old Salt Festival is hard to categorize. It lives in the mix of a music festival, a food festival, an educational series, and a celebration of handmade Western art.
There’s so much more to talk about, really. Like the podcasts that Ed Roberson of Mountain and Prairie will be recording onsite with Montanan writers. We’re also welcoming a series of poets to read at the festival, soon to be set in stone.
If you haven’t attended previously, we look forward to welcoming you with open arms. To us, the festival is a space for nourishment of mind, body, and soul. That nourishment extends to the idea that we’re all part of this Montana ecosystem, and that we grow together as a community in moments like these.
60 sleeps till our doors open — and we hope to see you there! Get your tickets today!
