Wildlands Festival raises $15K for area nonprofits
By Bay Stephens, EBS Staff Writer
BOZEMAN – The Wildlands Festival on Aug. 10 at Montana State University raised $15,000 for three nonprofits that work to protect and preserve Montana’s wild and open spaces: Yellowstone Forever, Montana Land Reliance and Gallatin Valley Land Trust.
The festival featured a double headliner performance by Robert Earl Keen, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real. Nearly 3,000 people attended MSU’s first outdoor concert in the Romney Oval.
“It’s a significant event because it takes a space that we have had visions of using for a concert and bringing it to life,” said MSU Senior Director of Auxiliary Services Duane Morris. “For that to happen, in partnership with a local company like Outlaw [Partners]—that’s reached out to the area nonprofits [to] benefit—makes it all the more special.”
“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” he added.
According to EJ Daws, executive director of sales and marketing at Outlaw Partners (publisher of EBS), the inspiration for Wildlands was to bring headline names and a high-quality production to an outdoor venue in Bozeman.
“Well-produced events are a great way to connect local folks, and businesses, to an event that supports the community,” Daws wrote in an email to EBS. “We felt that Bozeman was ripe for some great outdoor live shows, and we look at this as the springboard to future, larger productions. We are so thrilled at the quality of this first Wildlands show, and loved working alongside Montana State University on this effort.”
READ ARTICLE