We’ll have more info about our 2024 Demo Area presentations and special events by early July…in the mean time we thought you might enjoy seeing what we offered in 2023 so you can get a feel for what to expect. Cheers!

Horse & Wagon Driving: Friday, July 28^th 5:00 PMish

Come check out how to drive a team of horses!  JD Vukonich with his team of Suffolk horses will be demonstrating how to work a team pulling a wagon. JD is a long-time cowboy who still feeds cows with a team in the winter months.

Horseshoeing 101: Friday, July 28^th 6:30 PMish

Come learn the basics of horse shoeing with farrier Jill Michalak, who has been packing mules and horses from the Alaska Range, across the high Sierras in California, and NW Washington. She is now the first lady mule packer in Glacier National Park. Jill studied horseshoeing at her Oklahoma high school and moved to Neihart in 2015.

Crosscut Competition Practice Time: Saturday, July 29^th 11:00 AM

Getting ready to enter the famous Red Ants Pants Crosscut Competition on Sunday? Now is your chance to get some practice, try out our saws, and find a partner if you still need one.  Did we mention there are great prizes? You could win a weekend pass to the 2024 Festival!
Beginners welcome and encouraged!

Old Salt Co-op Meat Processing: Saturday, July 29^th 1:00 PMish

Grass-fed beef butchery – come hang out with Kent Schoberle and the crew from Old Salt as they break down the chuck primal from the front quarter of a cow.  Learn some of the lesser-known cuts of meat packed with flavor due to the hard-working nature of this part of the animal.  More than a meat company, Old Salt Co-op is working to provide meat with integrity from ranches that enhance Montana Landscapes.

Trailer Backing 101: Saturday, July 29^th 2:30 PMish

Back by popular demand! Sharon Brodie grew up in Fairview, Montana.  Her dad told her she was not allowed to pull a trailer until she could parallel park with the truck and trailer.  And it was a stick shift. Also teaching this year is Emily Garlough – with decades of experience as an arborist, this woman has loads of experience backing trailers full of downed trees and brush.  She also has a CDL and lots of experience driving and backing fire engines.  Come learn some basics of trailer backing and sign up for our NEW courses* offered by the Red Ants Pants Foundation on how to back a trailer 101.

MSU Biodigesters: Saturday, July 29^th 4:00 PMish

Biodigesters provide a sustainable solution for managing food waste by converting it into two useful products: biogas and biofertilizer. This helps reduce food waste, recover valuable resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate renewable energy, and improve soil health in our gardens. A research project by Montana State University (funded by the EPA) looked into the feasibility of using biodigesters at the household scale.  Come learn how they work and check out some sample models!

Horses and Healing – Four Horses for Wholeness: Saturday, July 29^th 6:00 PMish

Hertha Lund is an attorney who turned inward toward deep healing as a means of her own radical revolution against what she witnessed as a litigator and lobbyist. She grew up on several ranches in Montana and started her love affair with horses more than five decades ago. Several years ago, after a near death experience, she found assistance in finding her path to wholeness from those who had been trained in Equine Gestalt Coaching. Come meet Hertha and her horses and learn about leaving behind what no longer serves us

Crosscut Competition Preliminaries: Sunday, July 30^th 11:00 AM

This festival favorite is back again! Come cheer on these folks as they saw their hearts out. Anyone over 18 may participate. Closed-toe shoes and gloves required (we have extra gloves and chaps will be provided). Women’s, men’s, and co-ed divisions. Sign up at the demo area. Preliminaries are on Sunday at 11:00 AM. Finals are on Sunday at 2:30 PM.

Nailed It! Carpentry 101: Sunday, July 30^th 1:00 PMish  

One of our Red Ants Pants Foundation Timber Skills workshops is Carpentry 101*.  Come join Cole Sommers and Amy Freund, two of our instructors.  We know you know how to use a hammer, but have you ever competed in a nail-pounding race??

Crosscut Finals: Sunday, July 30^th 2:30 PMish 

Huge thanks to Red Lodge Mountain for their sponsorship of this event. They don’t want to brag, but we will for them…their trail crew gals are six-time winners! Winners of the Crosscut Competition will receive a weekend pass to the 2024 Red Ants Pants Music Festival. Buck yeah.

*The Red Ants Pants Foundation puts on Women’s Work Skills courses each year in White Sulphur.
Sign up at the Foundation tent! More info at www.redantspantsfoundation.org.

BEER & BOOKS!

Thursday, July 27^th 5:30 PM @ 2 Basset Brewery

Join author Chris Hedrich and illustrator Dalton Cianek for a fun, audience-engaging reading of their newly published, basset-themed book, Do We Get a Snack for That?

YOGA

Saturday, July 29^th and Sunday, July 30^th 9:00 AM @ field north of festival campground

Back by popular demand! Guided by Livingston yogi Alyssa Davis, yoga will be held both Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM on the north side of the campground, just east of the path to the festival grounds. Alyssa teaches with an Anusara yoga style and brings an athletic flavor and playfulness to her classes. Bring your own water and mat, or connect directly with the pasture!

BEARD AND MOUSTACHE COMPETITION

Saturday, July 29^th 11:00 AM

The tenth annual Red Ants Pants Beard and Moustache Competition will be the biggest competition to date! Owner/operator of Briggs Beard Co., Briggs Weyrauch, will host the event.

Compete in one of five categories: Best Moustache, Best Partial Beard, Best Full Beard, Most Creative Freestyle Beard, and Most Creative Craft Beard (for all those who are facial hair challenged). Get your beard brushed out, your moustache curled, or your own beard-like creation built.

Competitors will be judged on how well their facial hair enhances their overall appearance, style, and personality. In the freestyle categories the judges will be asked to consider originality as well as creativity.

FAMILY HYMN SINGALONG WITH ALAINE GRACE

Sunday, July 30^th 11:00 AM

Inheriting a love for music that goes back three generations, Alaine began blessing others with her talent from a young age. At nineteen, she now reaches across a broad spectrum; raising timeless hymns of worship, stirring hearts with familiar, old-style country and composing new, all with equal passion.

Her roots as a Montana-raised country girl come through in an authentic, down-home voice with original flair. While actively involved in the ranching lifestyle near White Sulphur Springs, Montana, alongside her family (parents, Drew and Kellie Dummermuth, sisters Laurel, Clare, Erica, Hallie, Jana, Nora, Ahnalee, and Kate, and kid brother, Rhett), Alaine continues to pursue the opportunity to touch a diverse group of people with the commonly irresistible gift of a song.

No experience necessary, just come sing along!

RAFFLES

Thursday, July 27^th – Sunday, July 30^th 3:00 PM

Guitar Raffle – Martin SC-13E Special – with its patented Sure Align® neck system, this guitar gives you full access to all frets so you can comfortably reach those high notes. Here’s your chance to take home this guitar, valued at $1,799, for the price of a raffle ticket. The Guitar Raffle will open on Friday with the festival grounds and drawing will be Sunday at 3pm on the Main Stage. Tickets are one for $10 or three for $20.

Daily 50/50 Raffles – A tradition we all know and love, the 50/50 raffle for each day of the festival is back again – including at our Thursday night street dance. There will be one winner each day and 50/50 raffle tickets will only be entered to win on the date purchased, so make sure you get your ticket for each day of the Festival! Half of the sales will go to the winner and the other half will go to the Red Ants Pants Foundation to support their mission-based programming. Tickets are one for $5 or five for $20.

Our Girls Leadership Program alumnae and other Foundation staff will be selling both types of raffle tickets at the street dance on Thursday and around the festival grounds Friday through Sunday. You can also find tickets at the Red Ants Pants Foundation Tent (near the demo area) and the 2 Basset Brewery Tent (just west of draft beer). Please consider purchasing raffle tickets to show your support for working family farms & ranches, women’s leadership, and our rural communities!

GIRLS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM – BRACELET MAKING

Saturday, July 29^th 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

We invite preteen and teenage girls attending the festival to come make a free morse code bracelet with our Girls Leadership Program alumnae on Saturday, July 29th-11:30am-12:30pm! All are welcome to learn more about the Girls Leadership Program from our Mentors and Staff during this meet and greet event.

2023-24 GIRLS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!

Each year, eight girls entering their junior year in high school embark upon a year-long leadership journey designed to inspire hope, build strength, develop pride, and foster courage in rural Montana girls. Paired with a young professional mentor, each participant attends leadership retreats and facilitates a service project in their own community. You can learn more on our website: redantspantsfoundation.org/girls-leadership/

COMMUNITY GRANTS RECEPTION

Saturday, July 29^th 1 PM – 2 PM

With the proceeds from the 2022 Red Ants Pants Music Festival, the Red Ants Pants Foundation was able to award $30,000 in grants to fourteen recipients from across Montana. Stop by to meet our grant recipients and learn more about the Foundation’s mission pillar of enriching and promoting rural communities.

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER MEET-UP

Saturday, July 29^th 3 PM – 4 PM

To celebrate the contributions of wildland firefighters in keeping our Montana landscapes safe, healthy, and beautiful, the Red Ants Pants Foundation, American Wildfire Experience, and MYSTERY RANCH invite all current and former wildland firefighters—volunteer and career—to swing by the Foundation Tent, say “hello” and share a drink with us!

WOMEN’S WORK SKILLS COURSES

Proceeds from the Red Ants Pants Music Festival help fund chainsaw, carpentry, and trailer backing courses offered annually. These courses are designed for participants to learn the safety and practical applications of the skill set in a welcoming and supportive environment.

There are limited spots available for our Fall 2023 Timber Skills courses, including Chainsaw 101 & 201 and Carpentry 101, register today! Spring course offerings will open in early 2024 including Dovetail Joinery as well as Trailer Backing. Stop by the Foundation tent for more info and sign up to receive notification when course registrations open at the tent or online at redantspantsfoundation.org/mailing-list.

THANK YOU! The Music Festival is the main fundraiser of the Red Ants Pants Foundation. Your contributions are vital to the work we do. If you are interested in learning more or becoming involved, our staff and board members would be happy to answer any of your questions in the Foundation Tent. Please consider continuing your support of the Red Ants Pants Foundation with a donation. Cheers!