The Maha Festival (known until 2021 as Maha Music Festival) is an independent music festival held in Omaha, Nebraska, United States.[1] The festival is owned and operated by YFC, Inc.,[2] a non-profit organization.[3]
Upcoming
The 2023 edition of the Maha Festival is scheduled to take place Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29.
In 2010, Maha was held on Saturday, July 24, 2010 at Lewis & Clark Landing and featured headliners Spoon and The Faint, as well as supporting acts Superchunk, Old 97's, Ben Kweller and It's True. Headlining the "local stage" were Satchel Grande and The Mynabirds from the Saddle Creek Records label. Other artists performing on the local stage were Landing On The Moon, Betsy Wells and Voodoo Method. From the announcement of the lineup[9] to reviews of the show itself,[10] MAHA 2010 was universally praised. Such praise culminated in the event being selected as the "Best Outdoor Festival" in Omaha,[11] ahead of some well-established local events.
In 2010, the Presenting Sponsor of Maha remained Alegent Health, while the main and local stages were sponsored by TD Ameritrade and Kum & Go, respectively.
The third annual Maha Music Festival was relocated from Lewis & Clark Landing to Stinson Park at Aksarben Village due to flooding. It was also rescheduled from the third weekend in July to August 13, because of a time conflict with the inaugural Red Sky Music Festival. Guided by Voices and Matisyahu headlined the festival; Cursive, J Mascis, The Reverend Horton Heat, and The Envy Corps filled out the rest of the national stage line-up. The local stage featured Omaha bands The So-So Sailors and Noah's Ark was a Spaceship], and Lincoln bands The Machete Archive and Somasphere. This year, voters cast ballots at the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards Summer Showcase to pick the opening local act, with the opening slot going to Omaha band The Big Deep. An estimated 4,000 people attended the festival.
TD Ameritrade and Kum & Go sponsored the main and local stages, respectively, for the second year in a row. Other sponsors included Weitz Funds, McCarthy Capital, Lucky Bucket Brewers, Proxibid, Centris Federal Credit Union, Whole Foods, Alegent Health, Broadmoor at Aksarben Village, HDR Architecture, Walnut Private Equity, Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.
2012 Sponsors included Weitz Funds, Proxibid, Alegent Health, McCarthy Capital, DiVentures, Stinson Morrison Hecker, Walnut Private Equity, Douglas County, HDR, SilverStone Group, Oxide Design Co., BlueCross BlueShield of Nebraska, The Bank of New York Mellon, Lucky Bucket Brewing Company, HearNebraska.org, KIWR, KRNU, The Reader, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Absolut and Bacardi.
Attendance exceeded 4,300, which made it the largest Maha to date.[12]
Maha returned to Stinson Park for the fifth version of the festival on August 17, 2013. Oklahoma City psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips served as the headliner, and were joined on the diverse Weitz Management Main Stage by Brooklyn indie pop duo Matt and Kim, former Hüsker Dü and Sugar bandleader Bob Mould, Portland indie rockers The Thermals, San Francisco's Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Texas folk rockers Sons of Fathers, and local favorite Millions of Boys. The Centris Stage featured Digital Leather along with local bands Criteria, The Millions, Rock Paper Dynamite, Hers with Omaha Girls Rock! and Purveyors of the Conscious Sound, who won The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards Showcase to earn the opening lineup spot.
2013 Sponsors include Schnackel Engineers Inc., Weitz Funds, Centris Federal Credit Union, Alegent Creighton Health, Corporate Ventures, TD Ameritrade, DiVentures, Stinson Morrison Hecker, SilverStone Group, Walnut Private Equity, BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Douglas County, Oxide Design Co., 1% Productions, Insurance Planning Associates, HearNebraska.org, Ink Tank, The Waiting Room, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Absolut, Jack Daniel's, Mike's Hard Lemonade and Bacardi.
Promotional tattoos were offered again in 2013, using the same blackbird logo as the previous year. Attendance was over 5,100, once again becoming the largest Maha crowd to date.
This was the first time the festival featured The Globe, a spoken word tent, featuring live comedy and poetry from local and national acts.
The Globe tent returned for a second year, featuring comedy presented by OK Party and Louder Than a Bomb slam poetry. New additions to the festival grounds included a ferris wheel, game truck, and a phone charging station.
Attendance topped 7,000 this year, topping the previous year's attendance by nearly 30%, making this the highest attended Maha to date. Around 250 people volunteered to make the 2014 festival a success.
The seventh Maha Music Festival happened on Saturday, August 15, 2015. The headliners were Modest Mouse and Atmosphere. In the spring, Maha teamed up with other local organizations to hold "Mini Maha" during Loessfest at River's Edge Park in Council Bluffs on May 30. This event featured Ben Kweller, The Dodos, and Lincoln band Oketo. Schnackel Engineers is the main sponsor again this year.
New additions to the festival grounds included a rock climbing wall and a human foosball court in the Community Village. The festival once again grew in terms of tickets sold, selling out for the first time. Attendance was estimated at over 9,000.
Maha Music Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2018, expanding to two days and holding the event on Friday, August 17 and Saturday, August 18, 2018. It also partnered with Big Omaha, a conference that celebrates entrepreneurship and innovation, which also celebrated its tenth year. The presenting sponsor for the festival was Buildertrend. At the top of this year's bill were Saturday night headliner Weezer, arguably the festival's biggest act to date; Father John Misty; and Friday night headliner TV On the Radio. The reported attendance for Friday night was 6,500.
The eleventh Maha Music Festival, now shortened to Maha Festival, took place Wednesday, August 14, 2019 through Saturday, August 17, 2019. The first day included a kickoff event at multiple local venues in the city's Little Bohemia neighborhood. The second day included an innovation conference, Maha Discovery, followed by an indie rock concert dubbed the Maha Middle Show, which was headlined by Pinback with Bach Mai.[14] The third and fourth days took place at Aksarben Village. The total reported attendance was 14,500.[15]
After the 2020 Maha Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival returned to Stinson Park in 2021. The event was scaled down compared to previous years, and took place on Saturday, July 31. This marked the first time the festival occurred outside the month of August.
