Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Every August, cowboys and cowgirls flock to Lewistown to enjoy hours of cowboy poetry, music and western culture at the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Western Music Rendezvous.

This gathering is described as “a four-day celebration of the cowboy way of life on the upper Rocky Mountain front and the best grasslands in the world to the east of it, beginning with the first Texan cattle drives north in 1880 to the present”.

Our Central Montana event is the second oldest cowboy poetry gathering in the country, just one year behind the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NV.  It is headquartered Lewistown, with over 50 hour-long sessions of cowboy poetry and western music Friday and Saturday. The Western Art & Gear Show is held in conjunction with the Gathering on Friday and Saturday.

Friday night features a dance with live music. A headliner entertainer performs on Saturday evening at the Fergus Center for the Performing Arts. Sunday morning presents a non-denominational Cowboy Church gathering. 

The Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering has received national recognition as an entertaining and meaningful celebration of history and heritage. In 2009, Patricia Schultz included Lewistown’s Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering in her travel book, “1,000 Places to See in the US and Canada Before You Die.”

In 2010, the American Bus Association (ABA) designated Montana Cowboy Poetry as one of the TOP 100 Group Travel Events of 2010.  In 2012, the Gathering received the prestigious Historic Preservation Award of Excellence for bringing the history of the upper Rocky Mountain West to life.

Join us in August for the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering