Is there shade at Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater?

Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater: shade math under a 9:27 sunset

Montana daylight runs long. Missoula's midsummer sun stays up until 9:27 PM, which means a 7 PM show at Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater spends most of its first two hours in daylight. This is not a venue where you wait ten minutes for the sun to disappear, at showtime it's still 23 degrees up in the western sky. Our shade engine puts the venue at 55 percent shaded overall across a typical 7 PM show; arrive at 6 PM and the average from then on is closer to 30 percent.

Where the shade lands

We've verified the layout here: the stage faces due south over the crowd, so the evening sun works in from the west side of the bowl. The engine's most-shaded list is led by section 213 at 75 percent, with section 111 and Pit 1 at 70 percent and the 101, 102, and 103 pavilion block at 69 percent. The sunniest spots are section 109 at 39 percent and Lawns 5, 6, and 7 at 38 percent, figure on direct sun for well over half of those long Montana evenings.

Playing the long dusk

The practical read: pavilion seats in the low 100s or section 213 roughly double your shade compared to the west end of the lawn. If you're set on the lawn at Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater, bring sunscreen even for an evening show, an hour-plus of low western sun is still an hour-plus of sun, and remember that once 9:27 PM passes, Missoula's dry air cools off fast, so pack a layer too. To check the picture for your exact seat and date rather than a typical July evening, the interactive shade map runs the same engine for any showtime you give it.