We Belong to Red Deer
About Us
The Red Deer Memorial Centre has been a gathering place for Central Alberta since 1944 — built to honour a generation, shaped by decades of community, and now home to some of the best live performing arts between Calgary and Edmonton. The stage has changed. The community hasn't.
It started as a WWII army drill hall — part of the A-20 Camp that sat on the edge of Red Deer in 1944. When the war ended, the community claimed it. The building was converted into a memorial auditorium: a space to honour those who served, and to gather, celebrate, and create.
Bringing people together since 1944.
Decades of concerts, theatre, folk festivals, and community events followed. The Memorial Centre has hosted everything from the RCMP Concert Band to the Red Deer International Folk Festival — and it's been doing it long enough that some of today's audiences first came here as kids with their parents.
Since 1994 the Central Alberta Theatre Society has been successfully managing the Red Deer Memorial Centre for Performing Arts for the City of Red Deer .
Today, with 700 soft seats, professional lighting and sound, and a full renovation behind it, it's Central Alberta's dedicated home for live performing arts. The history is part of what makes a night here feel different.
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700 soft seats
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Professional lighting & sound
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Heritage character, modern capability
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Halfway between Calgary & Edmonton
Here's some from the Archives
A20 Camp in 1944
A-20 Army Camp 1944 (the building on the far right is Memorial Centre now)
Red Deer Archive P98
Interior of the War Memorial Auditorium
Interior of the War Memorial Auditorium (Memorial Centre), Red Deer, Alberta. between 1948 and 1951
Red Deer Archives P4435
The Memorial Centre, 195(?)
The Memorial Centre on 58 Street, 195?
Red Deer Archives N3592
Interior of the Memorial Centre cooking and appliances demonstration
1954
Red Deer Archives N5961
A Centenary of Music
May 5, 1965 or May 6, 1965
Red Deer Archives P21217
Variety Show 1965
Variety Show 1965
Red Deer ArchivesP21215
International Folk Fest
Red Deer International Folk Festival date is between 1970 – 1972
Red Deer Archives N19839
Red Deer International Folk Festival
Red Deer International Folk Festival date is between 1970 – 1972.
Red Deer Archives N19840
Kiss Me Kate Orchestra by CAT 1979
Kiss Me Kate Orchestra by CAT 1979
Red Deer Archvies P19312
Determined Wooing In Kiss Me Kate
Kieran Lang, left, Russ Gray, top, Susan Greenfield and Kieran Lang. 1979
Red Deer Archives P19313
RCMP Concert Band
Don Jasper, accordionist with the RCMP Concert Band performs on stage along with six other band members and conductor at the Memorial Centre in Red Deer, Alberta. 1989
Red Deer Archives P19114
Concert stage set up for Curtis Labelle Music
March 29, 2021
Red Deer Archives E18921
The Memorial Centre is a City of Red Deer facility, operated by the Central Alberta Theatre Society — a not-for-profit organization with roots in this community going back decades. CAT brings the expertise, the passion, and the programming that keeps this stage alive year-round.
Run by people who love theatre.
Imagine that.
Here we are today:
