Welcome to Historic Red Cloud: Great Stories Grow Here!

Set amidst brick-lined streets, charming homes, historic buildings, and the immense beauty of the prairie, Red Cloud offers a glimpse into a storied American past while maintaining a progressive vision for the future. Willa Cather’s prairie novels introduced the world to the community and have left indelible impressions in the minds of her readers. Yet rich literary history is only one part of this unique town’s present-day draw. Your off-the-beaten path adventure will let you explore a rural lifestyle while also immersing yourself in arts, culture, history, and recreational pursuits.

 
 

Featured Attraction

 

Red Cloud Tourism and Commerce

Community News

June 12, 2023

by Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine

Great Plains novelist Willa Cather grew up in Red Cloud, and this year the small Nebraska town is celebrating the 150th anniversary of her...READ MORE...

September 28, 2023

Learn more about the Red Cloud Community Fund during the September Month of Giving!

...READ MORE...

 

Events

730pm @Red Cloud Opera House Auditorium
October 06, 2023

 

Tap your foot and sing along to some of the most iconic country music of the 20th century! Join us for a special performance by Nebraska's own, Melinda Ferree, and her homage to one of America's loved and influential female vocalists, Patsy Cline! With well remembered hits such as: "Crazy", "Walking After Midnight", and "Sweet Dreams", this night will be one to remember!

7pm @ Red Cloud Opera House Auditorium
October 20, 2023

BUY TICKETS HERE

UNL Opera presents Tyler Goodrich White’s O Pioneers! based on Willa Cather’s 1913 novel--her first masterpiece and one of the most compelling tales of the Great Plains.  Presented in connection with the 2023 Cather Sesquicentennial, the production features student and alumni singers of UNL Opera, the UNL Chamber Singers, and a sextet of live musicians.  Conducted by the composer, this production's stage direction is by William Shomos. 

throughout southern Nebraska
October 06, 2023 to October 08, 2023

Have an adventure and find great deals along Nebraska's southern border. The trails goes from Haigler near the borders with Colorado and Kansas to Brownville, just shy of Missouri and Iowa. Call Bobbie or Judy (see below) to sign up if you want to be a vendor. 

7pm via Zoom
October 12, 2023

Help the National Willa Cather Center welcome Tracy Daugherty as he discusses his book 148 Charles Street. This fictional novel explores the friendship between Willa Cather and Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant. Two different writers with distinct styles. Cather was the novelist while Sergeant was the muckracking journalist. Their friendship becomes tested after Cather fictionalizes a war that Sergeant covered. This is a story of how friendship endures through disagreements and misunderstandings.