Year-round fun in the Flathead

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot more to do here in the Flathead Valley during the “shoulder” months between our traditionally busy winter ski season and incredibly busy summers.

That’s due in large part to our hard-working local convention and visitor bureaus that are finding all kinds of events to stage here, bringing in visitors and more money for the local economy.

Most noticeable have been the efforts of the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau, which has organized flagship events such as the Dragon Boat Festival and the Spartan Race.

The first Spartan Race in Bigfork in May created more than $1.1 million in economic activity for the Flathead Valley, according to new data from the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. About 4,300 racers came from 34 states, several Canadian provinces and as far away as the United Kingdom to compete as 2,300 spectators watched. The Spartan Race filled a lot of hotel rooms and restaurants.

The Kalispell bureau brought the Montana Dragon Boat Festival to Flathead Lake in 2012, with the inaugural festival drawing about 4,000 people. That event was so successful organizers have added a second day to the festival this year. It will be staged Sept. 7-8 at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork.

And there’s more fun coming.

The Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau is working with Cinch Jeans and Shirts to bring the Cinch Bucking Horse Championships to Majestic Valley Arena north of Kalispell in October. The event was held here last year as the World Class Bucking Horse Association finals, but this year organizers promise the championships will be the richest bucking horse event ever held in the United States.

On tap for February 2014 is another new event, the inaugural Montana Pond Hockey Classic on Foy’s Lake. Who’s behind that event? You guessed it — the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau.

We can’t forget about the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau that’s also on the front line of generating more business for the local economy. Last October the Whitefish bureau, along with other tourism organizations, helped bring a Hollywood film crew to Whitefish to film an episode of “The Bachelor” reality series. Country music singer Sarah Darling performed a free outdoor concert in conjunction with the filming.

The Whitefish bureau also has had good results with marketing campaigns such as “Fun is Whitefish,” a cooperative effort with Whitefish Mountain Resort that involved a marketing blitz in the Portland area.

It’s not only our convention and visitor bureaus that have seen success in building the Flathead’s shoulder seasons. The area’s many Chamber of Commerce organizations also deserve a tip of the hat for organizing all kinds of activities — Whitefish’s Oktoberfest is a prime example — that are driving the local economy and making the Flathead fun year-round.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.