Entertainment Districts in Iowa City

Iowa City is Iowa's most extraordinary entertainment district — a University of Iowa college town whose remarkable combination of literary heritage (it is one of only three UNESCO Cities of Literature in America), excellent bars, and outstanding restaurants creates the most intellectually vibrant entertainment district in the state. Iowa City's legendary fiction writing program (the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the most important literary program in America) and its genuine college town vitality create an entertainment district of unusual literary and cultural depth.

Downtown Iowa City's Ped Mall presents a UNESCO City of Literature bar and restaurant scene serving the University of Iowa's campus community.

Iowa City's Pedestrian Mall is the center of one of America's most unique college entertainment districts — a brick-paved walking street surrounded by bars, restaurants, and the Englert Theatre that serves the University of Iowa's literary community. The Ped Mall's concentration of venues presenting everything from blues music to poetry readings reflects the intellectual character of a college town shaped by one of America's most prestigious creative writing programs.