Maha Festival to return to Omaha's RiverFront in 2024

The park, which is scheduled to open this summer, will have large green lawn space and ample room for Maha to expand its popular festival, including room for three music stages, twice as many community and vendor booths, and thousands of additional guests, festival officials announced Thursday.

Maha is one of the first major events to formally announce it will be held at the park. The 16th annual festival will be held July 26 and 27, 2024. Maha is expected to be one of the biggest ticketed events at the riverfront, festival officials said, with an estimated 20,000 attendees — including 900 volunteers — over two days.

The festival was originally held on the riverfront when it began in 2009. It moved to Stinson Park in Aksarben Village two years later. This summer’s festival will be held July 28 and 29 and will feature headliners Big Thief and Turnstile. Several other bands are scheduled to perform.

“Maha is all about bringing people together, and we have had so much fun dreaming up how we can do that with even more people in this beautiful new space at Heartland of America Park,” Maha Co-Director Rachel Grace said in a press release. “We’re thankful to all our volunteers, artists, collaborators and community members who have helped us get to this point. We know Big Thief, Turnstile, and all our other 2023 artists will help us close out our time at Aksarben Village this year on a high note.”

The accessibility of the new park was part of the appeal, festival officials said, adding they are working with several transportation companies, including Metro Transit, to provide next year’s festivalgoers with as many transit options as possible.

“Maha is a great fit for Heartland of America Park and our shared vision of bringing people together in culturally enriching spaces,” said Kristyna Engdahl, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority, which operates the riverFront. “We love that Maha has a proven record of building community and doing it in a sustainable manner, and we can’t wait to be Maha’s new home.”