Early Bird Tickets for Old Salt Festival 2024

The Montana celebration of land stewardship is slated for June 21-23rd, and tickets drop next week.

There aren’t many chances for most of us to drop in on a working Montana ranch, but the Old Salt Festival takes that experience and multiplies it tenfold. 

Walk through the gates on the Mannix Ranch, and you’ll find world-class chefs preparing meat raised on the grasses of local ranches, Americana musicians, makers from all over the West showcasing handmade goods, and non-profits aiming to build a land-based ethos from sea to shining sea.

A Festival With A Bigger Aim

Old Salt Co-op is a purpose-driven company that provides quality meat from ranches that enhance Montana lands. Currently, only 2% of meat raised in Montana is eaten here. And the bigger mission of Old Salt is to create a direct connection from rancher to consumer. That means we’re cutting out the middle piece — where big-time industry takes the biggest cut from both parties. 

So, how do you get the two separate parties united? 

A party isn’t the worst way to do it. In fact, we think it’s the best way to bring like-minded, food-conscious, land-lovin’ folks together. 

Last year, the festival hosted 1500 people on the ranch. A combination of raucous musical performances, community meals cooked by celebrity chefs, and big conversations made for a celebration unlike any other. 

This year, our goal is to bring 3000 folks together — and within those 3000 folks we hope to create a community that chooses to consume more consciously, whether that means wearing wool overalls made by local designer Laura Lee or listening to music grown here in the Montana soil. 

What’s Different

With more folks on the way, we’ve decided to shake things up a bit. Though it will be a bigger festival in population, we’re redesigning the set-up to bring everyone into the campfire circle. Additionally, we lowered ticket prices to make the festival accessible to even more folks this year.

• Expect the main stage to be visible from the entire festival grounds. 
• The Makers Tent is bigger and more expansive, with much more to offer in terms of handmade goods, conversations with non-profits, and like-minded local brands. 
• Food will be served in bites (think appetizers) and a side stage will be added to the cookfire, allowing each chef the opportunity for more conversation, direct interaction, and to speak to the sourcing of ingredients and thought behind the menu preparation. The food truck presence will be much expanded, providing more food and dessert options throughout the event.

We’re still leaning into education as a core of what we do, and that means we’re lining up speakers and guests that can share skillsets rather than getting too academic about them. So far, you can expect the following — while noting that some of this is subject to change, grow, and shift as the festival gets closer!

• A hands-on butchering demonstration from the Old Salt crew
• Mountain + Prairie’s Ed Roberson will be podcasting live onsite
• Guided Pasture Walks — showcasing what conversation can do for fragile yet necessary ecosystems
• Low stress livestock handling demonstrations
• Kevin Morse of Cairnspring Mills, speaking about the importance of local grain milling 
• Guest chef appearances and bites from Eduardo Garcia, Tournant, and Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen
• Committed makers currently include RevivALL Clothing, Range Revolution, Spruced Plume, Rusty Sagebrush Scarves, Sing Hat Company, Smith and Rogue, and more
• A GoFastCamper get-together, supporting one of Montana’s most innovative camping brands

And, of course, music! We are currently working on finalizing the musical lineup, and we will begin announcing names shortly. 

Where To Stay

Once again, expect that Old Salt will have an expansive campground ready and waiting for your arrival. This is, like last year, a BYO-Camp kind of set-up. This means that if you bring your RV, expect dry lots. Or if you like to camp, tents are welcome! We supply the portapotties and the party and that’s about it. It’s rustic. We like it that way. 

For those of you who like a more luxurious experience, we’re partnering with Wild Productions on a limited number of glamping wall tents that will be available when full-priced tickets go on sale [in late March]. 

Should you want to come early or stay late, there will also be an opportunity to stay closer to Helmville at the Geary Brothers’ Hipcamp site at the rodeo grounds. We’ll provide a shuttle so you’ll have safe travel back and forth. 

Note that you don’t have to purchase camping when you purchase tickets, so if you’d like to keep your options open until you have a better idea of how you’ll be joining us, we are totally cool with camping passes being purchased at any date. 

A Final Note: We Can’t Wait To See You

Listen, it’s early days. We know that things will change. But we also believe that this year is going to lean even harder into the big-hearted passion that we all share for leaving the land better than we found it. We’re so excited to announce more details about this one-of-a-kind experience we’re building in the coming weeks.

Early bird tickets are available now through March 27th. Full price ticket sales start March 28th.

And if you’d like to volunteer, we’re happy to trade the price of a ticket for help behind the scenes. Our volunteer team is absolutely core to what we do, and we’re floored at the quality, work ethic, and personalities of our volunteer crew. Believe us, you want to get to know them.