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Carson Becker wasnt interested in the usual kind of tea party.

The Clark Chateau, which Becker has managed since 2015 with Callison Stratton, has seen its share of tea parties in its day, she said but she wanted to think bigger for the chateaus annual fundraiser, beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 24.

Instead of petit-fours and clotted cream, the historic mansion will play host to Drink of the Wise: A Midsummer Nights Tea Party, a tour across continents and centuries to uncover the cultural history of tea and its culinary possibilities.

Proceeds will benefit chateau programs and the Caring Aid Fund, which helps feed the hungry in Butte.

The evenings entertainment will include presentations about kintsugi the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with decorative lacquer and wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that embraces imperfection as a form of beauty. The chateaus teen interns will give those presentations.

Another group will present a talk on the connection between tea and feminism.

Tea houses were one of the only places where unchaperoned women could go and be safe and hang out and talk to each other, Becker said.

In a brief history of tea she wrote for Butte Arts Monthly, Becker described the gradual adoption of tea into the cultural norm in Europe as well as its tie to the suffragette movement in England, which appeared to fulfill early fears that drinking tea was tantamount to shirking household duties and becoming politically active.

The musical group Alas Harum, which plays the Balinese instrument gamelan, will come from Missoula to perform. (They are part of the larger ensemble Missoula Community Gamelan, Manik Harum.) The group includes Megan McNamer, the first participant in the Mining City Writing Project collaboration between the Chateau and The Montana Standard.

The groups director, Dorothy Morrison, said she is looking forward to meeting Saturdays audience.

It seems like the people of Butte have a very open mind to the things that arent mainstream, she said. And this is a music that isn't mainstream at all.

Manik Harums teacher, Made Lasmawan, will be in Butte later this summer with his group, the Balinese All Stars, for the Montana Folk Festival.

Lake Missoula Tea Company is providing tea for the fundraiser Saturday. Chef Daniel Hogan designed the accompanying menu, which will feature dishes to match regional teas from almost every continent, like flatbread with rose jam and pine nuts to match Lapsang Souchong from China. Tea-infused cocktails will be provided by Headframe Spirits.

Tickets are nearly sold out, according to Becker, but some may be available at the door of the Clark Chateau on Saturday.

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Clark Chateau's 'tea party' fundraiser unlike all others - Montana Standard