When the big blue sky becomes the big night sky, the party crowd comes out to play. Nightlife in Helena tends to be laidback rather than leading edge, but don’t despair. There’s plenty of country, blues and rock and roll. The Rialto, Motherlode Sports Bar & Casino Silver City Saloon and Fat Boy & Charlies are popular Helena nightclubs with live music and busy dance floors. The Corner Bar, Winston Bar, York Bar and Jackson Creek Saloon feature singles dance nights and oxygen bars to help partiers keep the pace.

There’s a sophisticated side to local music as the Helena Symphony & Chorale warms up winter nights. Helena also loves special events and music festivals. Alive@Five hosts weekly free music at downtown locations and thousands of music fans flock to Helena to boogie down with top-name entertainers at the Annual Last Chance Bluegrass Festival and Mount Helena Music Festival.