Orvis's Biennial Down the Hatch Fly Fishing Festival

Down the Hatch – Caras Park [Missoula]

After managing the annual fly fishing festival in-house for several years, the festival had grown beyond Orvis’s capacity, so they contracted Meetings Northwest to manage and expand their Down the Hatch festival in Missoula, Montana (our home turf). In the spirit of a true Missoula event, Meetings Northwest, working alongside Orvis, created a memorable and anticipated outdoor spring event, bringing in over 2k participants.

Centered around fly fishing and river conservation, supported by some of Missoula’s favorite musicians and Big Sky Brewery, the festival has something for everyone, vendors selling the latest river gear, children’s fishing activities (10×10 trout pond and casting practice), a suspenseful fly fishing competition between the best guides in the west, and of course good music, cold beer and good food. The day festival is followed by the ever-popular fly fishing film festival at The Wilma, where one lucky participant walks away with a fly fishing trip to an undisclosed destination (or an anchor as one participant told me, remembering her first encounter with DTH). All beer sales and film tickets support a local conservation group.

DTH17 raised over $15k in one day for a local stream project up the Rattlesnake, for WestSlope Trout Unlimited
DTH19 raised nearly $10k for the Montana Trout Unlimited Youth Conservation Camp and $1.5k for local stream projects in Missoula for WestSlope Trout Unlimted.