Omaha’s marquee annual music festival, Maha, has been canceled for this upcoming summer, according to a press release put out by the organization. The festival board explained that they canceled Maha to undergo a rework of its operating model.
Grayson Shuler-Morgan, a Central senior and a fan of riot-grrrl punk, indie pop and freak folk, explained that they don’t see Maha as incredibly important to the local music scene. “I’m most worried about the local artists. When I went to Maha, people were only there for Car Seat Headrest. Small basement concerts for local artists are really fun, but it’s not as big of an audience [with Maha being canceled].”
In recent years, artists like Big Thief, Peach Pit, and Car Seat Headrest have taken main stage at the festival. During the same time, the festival’s popularity has grown for fans near and far.
“I’ve gone to every [Maha] except the first one, and I did play it in 2015,” said Jon Flanagan, English department head and trumpetist of All Young Girls Are Machine Guns. “I don’t know if playing Maha really advances you as a band much. It’s more of a celebration of local music. It’s a cool thing that’s an honor.”
Band members of Bad Self Portraits, an indie rock band from Omaha, echoed Flanagan’s sentiment. Connor Paintin, Ingrid Howell and Jesse White all graduated from Central between the years 2017 and 2019. Paintin explained that “[f]or the Omaha music scene, I think that local bands’ shows will be largely unaffected by the cancellation. However, I’m incredibly grateful that Maha has included local acts in the festival each year, and the cancellation unfortunately means one less opportunity for local artists this year.”
At the same time, the band had a tremendous time playing the festival in 2022.“As an Omaha artist, Maha is one of those gigs you really hope you can make happen someday, so to see it happen was very surreal,” White said.
The band emphasized that the Omaha music scene involves many elements in both “festival and non-festival” sites, according to Howell. For example, Outlandia and GRRRL Camp are happening in Bellevue, along with PETFEST in Aksarben. All in all, the band feels like there are still many opportunities for fans to experience the Omaha music scene.
Maha had originally planned a move from Aksarben Village to the RiverFront for the 2024 festival, moving the festival 50 blocks east. Now, the festival has another year to recalibrate before it officially makes the move. “I hope that [Maha in 2025] provides a new and unique festival for Omaha. I think the local scene produces some of the best music I’ve ever heard, and I’ll always be for more opportunities for that music to be heard,” White said.
Aiden Whalen, another Central senior who performed his poetry live at Maha last year, worried about the effect on Omaha’s cultural scene as a whole. Whalen enjoyed the crowd and experience of sharing his poetry on the Main Stage, but was concerned when he saw it was canceled. “I understand they have their reasons, but I disagree with the way that they’re going about it,” Whalen said. “When OGR performed, it was a younger band – a lot of littler people – exposing people to the fact that ‘you are young, but you are still able to do the thing that that band that has been performing for 15 years can do.’ I am sad that people this year don’t get to [perform poetry], but it feels different skipping a year.”
Senior Chance Gaillard hoped that Maha’s cancellation was only temporary. “I was definitely surprised at first,” Gaillard said. “It’s become a really big part of us as a city.”
Gaillard said that the Omaha music scene has stagnated as of late. ”If you look at the past couple of years, their lineups have not been as good as they have in the past,” Gaillard said. “I love going to music festivals, but especially since Outlandia has started, I’ve been more looking forward to that.”
