Maha Festival
Maha is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our main event is Maha Festival, a volunteer-powered celebration of music and discovery that takes place every summer in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Maha Festival
Maha is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on bringing people together. We curate and produce cultural experiences with the goal of positively impacting our home city, Omaha.

Our main event is Maha Festival, a volunteer-powered celebration of music and discovery that takes place every summer.

HISTORY

Founded as Maha Music Festival in 2009, the event has grown steadily since its inaugural fest, which took place in front of a humble crowd on the Omaha riverfront. At the ten-year mark, the festival began its evolution from a traditional music festival into a multi-faceted community event when it took on operations for Big Omaha, which had been the area’s most celebrated innovation and entrepreneurship conference.

Since the start, Maha has welcomed hundreds of music acts, dozens of speakers, and attendees from all 50 states, all fueled by a dedicated group of hundreds of amazing volunteers.

Land acknowledgment

The city of Omaha exists on land that has been home to culture and community long before our organization was ever conceived. The Omaha tribe, for which our city is named, was also known as U-Mo’n-Ho’n (“upstream” or “against the current”). The Tribe originally settled near the Missouri River, and in the early 1700s were mapped as “the Maha, a wandering nation.”

Beginning in the 1800s, contact with European settlers resulted in waves of devastating smallpox epidemics, and a series of treaties were signed between the Tribe and the federal government, all of which reduced the Tribe’s sovereignty or land, or both.

In 1854, the Omaha tribe was forced to cede their land and move to a reservation that is present-day Macy, Nebraska. The U.S. government’s founding of Omaha did not mean that the Tribe disappeared, however. They continued to adapt to life on the reservation, and by the 20th century, many had moved back to the city of Omaha.

Though we acknowledge the Omaha tribe in recognizing the origin name of our organization and festival, it is important to also note that they were not the only area tribe displaced. Others include the Southern Ponca, Ioway, Otoe, Missouri, and the Sauk and Fox tribes.