MISSOULA – For the first time in 35 years, Rock Creek will not be hosting the annual Testicle Festival.
This news comes as a shock to the community because of the event’s longevity and the timing of the announcement, which Rock Creek Lodge owner Matt Powers admits was late.
The five-day festival contained many different activities including live music, alcohol and an eating contest involving rocky mountain oysters, or deep-fried bull’s testicles.
Powers says he tried to make the festival as safe as possible, but after negative community reactions and a rollover crash that killed two people last year, he says he doesn’t think there is any way to make the festival safe enough.
"We did the best we could to keep them safe while they were here, probably overly-secured it, but there was nothing," Powers said. "Just because of the type of event it was and all the things surrounding it, anything that went wrong would be obviously a huge issue, and everything that happened was huge issues."
Powers also said he has no plans on trying to make the festival happen next year, but if anyone wanted to try to they were more than welcome to.
