Omaha’s marquee annual music festival, Maha, officially announced their lineup and that they will be returning on Aug. 2 for a one-day festival, but will be joining forces with Outlandia and moving to the Heartland of America Park at the RiverFront.
Outlandia Music Festival has been running since 2022 at Bellevue’s Falconwood Park. The music production company 1% Productions is ending the festival because of a lack of funding, which is why they are joining forces with Maha. Founders of this event had originally worked with Maha to start Outlandia.
The Maha Music Festival was founded in 2009 and began at the Omaha riverfront. The name of the festival stands for marquee annual music festival but also the base culture Omaha was created on. The Omaha tribe (also known as the Maha tribe) is why the city of Omaha is named “Omaha”, meaning “upstream” or “against the current.” Settling by the Missouri River, the Maha in the early 1700s were also referred to as “the Maha, a wandering nation.” Today the festival has a focus on minimizing waste and positively affecting Omaha. By returning back to the Riverfront, the festival is acknowledging Omaha’s foundation.
The lineup this year consists of headliner The Pixies, a “legendary alt-rock band;” rising folk/ alt-country artist Waxahachie; indie rock band Band of Horses; alternative band Silversun Pickups; and synth/pop Magdalena Bay, also featuring a local band Little Brazil.
This year’s lineup is shorter with fewer local bands because of the switch to a one-day festival.
Many other festivals are also the same weekend, including Lollapalooza in Chicago and Hinterland in St. Charles, Iowa. Both of these festivals are hosting more mainstream artists, which might pull many away from Omaha this summer.
