Elko on My Mind

Report from the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada: Maddy Butcher writes: We know horses grow and learn if their lives have a decent balance of comfort and discomfort. Without change and a little bit of uncertainty, there is no release and relief. There […]

The 36th NCPG: Join Me in Elko!

This month, the Western Folklife Center announced its lineup for the 36th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, January 27-February 1, 2020. It’s going to be a fun one! Every year, Western Folklife focuses on a theme within the ranching community. Years past have often centered […]

Elko Favorites

When you come to your senses and put a winter Elko pilgrimage on your Must Do list, here are some favorite bits to pique your interest. Read more about the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering here. Favorite Alternative Event to the NCPG: If the NCPG is […]

Why Elko and the NCPG?

Northern Nevada may be beautiful, but it is not lush. In the winter, it is windy and cold. One might even call it “unwelcoming.” So the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, hosted by the Western Folklife Center and held annually for the last 35 years, stands […]

You Should Be in Elko

It’s Day One of my annual attendance of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. So excited! Before the multitude of concerts, dances, and poetry recitations, the Gathering hosts several educational workshops, intimate one-, two-, or three-day classes led by experts. You can learn […]

We sit down with Western Folklife’s Kristin Windbigler

At the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, we were thrilled to sit down with Kristin Windbigler, executive director of Western Folklife, the organization that runs the Gathering. She took the helm less than a year ago after serving on its board of directors and working for TED as […]

NCPG: Add it to your bucket list

This week, we continued our road trip with several days in Elko, Nevada. For more than three decades, the northern Nevada town has been home to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, a week-long festival of western ranching culture. It’s my favorite mid-winter event. Hands down. […]

A Visit with Western Folklife’s Kristin Windbigler

Kristin Windbigler is the new executive director of the Western Folklife Center and the event it runs, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We visited with her via email about the organization and this year’s production, the 34th annual gathering which runs from January 29 to […]

NCPG in Elko: Celebrating Storytelling and Life with Horses

For those who’ve not had the pleasure of attending the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, an annual event run by Western Folklife in Elko, Nevada, it may be easier to describe it through metaphor: If the Gathering were something you ate, it would be tapas, snacks […]

NCPG’s Moth lineup is here

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is in full gear this week. The event, which draws performers and fans from around the world, will dominate the mining town of Elko, Nevada. Read more about it here. Aside from the spectacular array of day and night performances […]