Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Festival Location: Lewistown, MT, USA

Festival State: Montana Festivals

Festival Type(s): Writing Festivals, Country Music Festivals, Bizarre Festivals

By: © Nelson Taylor 2009

Begun in 1986, this is the oldest gathering of cowboy poets in the nation. Every August somewhere in the range of 150 spur-wearing bards with hip-holsters come to Lewistown from around the world to peddle their poems to a crowd of 3,000.

Bet you've never met a ten-gallon-hat-wearing Aussie. No, they don't ride kangaroos. But you can come ride on the wit and wisdom of these western wordsmiths. Or why not learn to be a cowboy poet yourself? For $10, workshops are available -- shit kickers and handle-bar mustaches not included.

Also held during the weekend are the Western Art and Cowboy Gear Show. And for those with a hole in their stomach from a hard day of making bacon with goats, you can board the Charlie Russell Chew-Choo for a special 3 ½ hour dinner train adventure tour, which includes a full-course prime-rib meal, live entertainment and a wild west train robbery and shoot-out. While the Chew-Choo is a whipping $75 per person, the poetry gathering will only run you $5.