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HELENA – Helena’s Buck Creek Festival is back for the 2023 and will kick off Friday, October 6 for a weekend of fun at Helena Amphitheatre Park from 6-10 p.m.

President of Buck Creek Festival JoAnna Harmon first became involved with the festival through the annual duck race. The duck race is an event where rubber ducks are released at the top of the dam in Helena and travel down the waterfall and into the nets to see which one finishes first. This event serves as a fundraiser for the Helena High School band.

The board said they decided to move this year’s festival to the fall again to get the best entertainment possible.

“It’ll be the same fun time it’s always been,” Harmon said. “(There will be) live bands, vendors, food trucks and the Duck Race. We have a good mix of food, clothing and crafts. It will be everything everyone has grown to expect.”

Activities for the festival will include crafts, children’s activities, food, beverages and live music. The annual Duck race will also take place.

“As everyone adjusts back to normal life and schedules, the board found that bands are being booked out six months to a year,” read a Helena Buck Creek Festival press release. “As we worked together to try to secure a lineup of bands that this festival deserves, we found most bands had already been booked through May. The board then decided to return to a fall date like we did in 2021 to ensure that everyone gets to experience a festival to remember.”

There will be a children’s area located near the festival stage which will give parents the opportunity to enjoy the live music as their children play. All-day access armbands can be purchased at the festival.

“This Buck Creek festival was founded to bring the community together and to give back to Helena. The festival board gives all profits from the festival back to the community,” read the press release.

More information on Buck Creek Festival can be found at Helenasbuckcreekfestival.com.