The Tastiest Festivals in Omaha

Renaissance Festival of Nebraska

★★★★☆ 4.3 (11)

"Really fun event that's a perfect fit for the grounds at Bellevue Berry Farm. Expect all the usual shops full of artisans and artists demonstrating old world trades and selling handmade goods. Expect a bunch of guys in suits of armor walking around and interacting with the crowd. Plus axe throwing, live jousting, tons of games and a rotating set of live entertainment all throughout the day. And, of course, giant turkey legs.Checking out Ren Fest is great way to spend a day doing something a little different with family and friends."

Sip Nebraska Wine and Craft Beer Festival

★★★★★ 4.9 (13)

"It was FIN! We had a great time! We only last a little over 3 hours . all the vendors were very nice and accommodating...sample were endless ...slaw listened to amazing music ..we played games..ran into a few fellow yelpies..and bout 5 bottles of wine and some bottles of spirits!!! We bought dips, flavored popcorn, dog stuff and I don't know what else! The day was GORGEOUS...very we organized ..a free glass ...it was very well put together..and the highlight was goat yoga!!! We donated for the cause!! Lov"

Nebraska Hop Cup

★★★★★ 5 (3)

"Still one of the best local beer events. Even with a larger turnout than last year, the 2017 Hop Cup is much more intimate than the big beer fests that take place throughout the year in the Omaha area.Ploughshare Brewing out of Lincoln took home the cup this year, with a Red IPA made in part with Nebraska Grown Hops (as were all the entries).Scriptown's ale was always very interesting, as it was made entirely of local hops and barley. Almost tasted like champagne!Great event supporting local hops farmers and the greater beer community at large."

Nebraska Christmas Lights Show

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"This was a very beautiful experience!! Love how the lights are synced with the radio!!!"

Santa Lucia Festival

★★★★☆ 4 (1)

"Great food, great music and ice cold Peroni. I have been going to Santa Lucia since i was little when it was still where it should be - on sixth street in little italy. The location is the only reason for a less than five star rating."

Coffee & Donut Festival Omaha

★★★★★ 4.8 (5)

"Had a great time at the Coffee & Donut Fest. It was totally worth getting up at the ass-crack of dawn on a Saturday morning just to attend the VIP hour and get first sips/bites before the crowds poured in.And there was some really awesome jelly donut wrestling. It was sticky, sweet and full of pile drives, headlocks and jelly. The donut queen pageant was also pretty great. I heard donut jokes and saw a lady dressed up as a donut do some jazzercise moves to some groovy tunes.The best donuts were from Hurts Donuts, but Hy-Vee really pulled through giving away probably a few thousand delicious donuts to attendees.Great event. I'm sure next year will be bigger/badder!"

Nebraska Balloon & Wine Festival

★★★☆☆ 2.8 (4)

"Nebraska does a pretty nice job with their Balloon and Wine Fest! Great vendors that frequent the Old Market Farmers Market and food trucks galore! We ended up getting a BBQ sandwich with corn pie and BBQ ribs.. really good!!Venue is a little small for the amount of people that showed but still not too bad! I think with the amount of people that showed.. more tables and chairs would be good! Great job with the fest! Would love to see more fests like this around these parts!"

Porchfest OMA

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"This was the most laid-back, community-centric event I've been to in years. People from in and around the Gifford Park neighborhood crowded around porches to enjoy local music (and comedy). The neighborhood farmers market coincided with the event, featuring many great local products and vendors.I may have been there passing out La Croix at the Yelp table, but it was great to be able to meet some new people and just hang out in their driveway while longtime neighborhood dwellers drifted in and out of conversation with strangers. Great event. Really strengthens the fabric of one of Omaha's most diverse and coolest neighborhoods. Can't wait till next year's Porchfest."

Bloom Where You're Planted Pumpkin Patch

★★★★★ 5 (6)

"absolutely adorable hidden gem. This pumpkin patch is everything I want in a fall experience. Nostalgically I think every fall should look like it does in Hocus Pocus. This place makes me think I'm on my way to Salem. It's beautiful and well kept. There is so much to do and so much to see. I had a wonderful time with my toddler and my older daughter. We were there for hours. They also have a few places to grab a snack like fudge or pie or popcorn. Admission isn't too pricey but it is quite a drive much further west than others. I hope to make this a yearly tradition."

NEBRASKA RENAISSANCE FAIRE

★★★☆☆ 3 (2)

"On it's way to being a great fair. Pictus was amazing, there was a full schedule of events, and the vendors were extremely friendly. Lots of kids activities and the whole family enjoyed the joust. We will be back next year and hope to see some new acts and vendors!"

OCon Expo

★★★★★ 4.9 (7)

"This local comic con was great! I've been to bigger and fancier, and to smaller, without star-packed panels. This was a fine in-between, very enjoyable and close to home.Simple things - the parking was plentiful and free. You could even hide in the north parking, in the shade. We choose up front after spotting a parent waiting in the car for her kid(s). The food lines weren't too busy when we got hungry, and hot dogs go with comic con, IMO.The main hall was filled, the size of an indoor basket ball stadium. Vendors, artists, and authors abounded. Got to see and meet many. Special shout outs to Fair Square and to Basi Affia at Sensil. Great conversations with each.Saw the panel with Felissa Rose. What a friendly, charming and warm person! She did an entire panel based on our questions. Got to meet her after, and she hugged me and my wife! Made my whole year!This is a con to which I will return!"

Omaha Beer Fest

★★★★☆ 3.8 (13)

"Wow!!! I'm so glad I found out about Omaha Beer Fest!!! We decided to go to the Friday night session as the weather forecast for tomorrow looks like scattered thunderstorms. While it was a teensy bit hot, we got really lucky with the weather....not one cloud in the sky. I loved that it was at Stinson Park at Aksarben Village. It made for such a great venue. In terms of beer, there were over 60 booths of beer and cider (as well as Cupcake Winery and Moonstruck Meadery). They also had about 5 food trucks. In addition to breweries from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, there were also several home brewers. While there were tons of good beers from all of the breweries (basically every beer you could think of and a Vanilla Coffee Stout that I loved), almost all of my favorite beers were from the home brewers. I tried a watermelon ale, an apple pie ipa, a pb & j stout, a lemon wine, and quite a few great coffee stouts from various home brewers. I was just so shocked to find that all of the best beers were from individuals brewing in their basements. It also left me feeling pretty sad as I won't have the opportunity to try these beers until next year's beer fest. I know some of them are looking to open their own breweries....and I'm crossing my fingers that they do!!While there were tons of people at beer fast (which resulted in a 15 minute wait just to enter), it didn't feel overwhelming. I never waited more than 5 minutes in any line for a beer tasting....nor did I ever wait more than 10-15 minutes to use the restroom (and yes, it was a REAL restroom!). I'd say the only downside to beer fest was the price. I only had about 4-5 beers, which worked out to be about $7-$9 a beer (normally more than I would spend). With that said, I think it is well worth the price in order to sample a ton of different beers, particularly the beers from the home brewers."

Ameristar's Beer & Bacon Festival

★★★★★ 4.6 (7)

"The venue is so cool it's right on the river. The food was outstanding! I was so impressed for a food festival how gourmet each dish was. I was a little disappointed in the beer selection. I hope the next festival brings in a different vendor."

Omaha Film Festival

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"(Just a note before we begin, and to be completely above board, I was a judge for the Omaha Film Festival for a few years, but this is an unbiased review from an attendee perspective to the festival in categories I did not judge/after I hung up my judging cap!)So I just want to begin by saying, Omaha is VERY lucky to have a film festival like this in our own town, especially one that is so well organized and features local filmmakers as well as national filmmakers. They have even had some Oscar winning shorts shown at the Omaha Film Festival before they won their big awards.The cost of admission is very reasonable for all that you get out of this festival. You can buy individual tickets if there are certain films/blocks you're interested in, or you can spring for the All Films pass and bop from theater to theater to things you like and make up your mind as you go.They have a little something for everyone, like a few blocks of shorts, feature length films, a Writer's Theater where the winning scripts and screenplays are read, as well as Q&As with some of the filmmakers. They've had some amazing guests, such as Shane Black, Mauro Fiore, Famke Jansson, and the animator Bill Plympton. Some of my favorite films I've seen at the festival (ones that you would recognize) were Obvious Child, Hotel Mumbai, and Score: A Music Film Documentary. This is a great way for local filmmakers to get their movies shown to an audience, as well as some larger independent filmmakers who wish to have their movies shown at local festivals, and not just the giant ones in LA or New York. There are also a few things the Omaha Film Festival runners host outside of the actual festival. They refer to themselves sometimes as a "teaching festival" and I can totally see why. They have the OFF Academy which hosts middle- and high-school students for two days of behind the scenes filmmaking processes. They also do a 48-Hour Film Challenge each year, which offers local filmmakers the chance to create a short with a specific prop and line of dialogue. They haven't shoot, edit, and complete it all within 48 hours!So aside from being a fun film festival, they also do a lot for the community throughout the year, and not just during the week of the festival each year.I will just conclude my review by reiterating that I think this festival is a super neat thing we have in the Omaha community, for film lovers or just people looking to try out a film festival for the first time!"

Omaha Holiday Lights Festival

★★★★★ 4.5 (2)

"We came down town for this because of the newly renovated mall area, we had family in town who had never seen it! It was absolutely gorgeous and awe worthy!! The lights are gorgeous and we timed it out with fireworks so we that we able to capture all the magic!! It runs for about a month between Thanksgiving and New Years and we will definitely be back next year!"

Outlandia Music Festival

★★★★★ 4.5 (2)

"Holy smokes! What a great event. This is a small, chill festival with a great lineup in 2024. We were there for day 2 and were very impressed with the venue, including how they utilized the space to keep lines short. Not a lot of options for food venders but the variety was good. Especially loved the asian truck had appetizers for $5 so made for a reasonable priced snack. Kind of a bummer pizza was only available in VIP..We didn't camp, so can't speak yo that part of the event.A couple opportunities for improvement is the limited amount of information on the website and lack of hand washing station at the bathrooms (there was one at the food area but that was quite a walk). We weren't sure what would be allowed in, and since we took a ride-share in, didn't want to risk it. But chairs of all types/sizes and bags were allowed (we even saw people haul in with wagons and one group had a small pop up tent for their kids to get shade."

Magical Lights of Lincoln

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"This was a drive through light and music show. Signs weren't absolutely clear about where the start was. We muddled around a bit before we got there. We finally found the entrance. Driving through was fun. Tune to 91.9 for music.The lights were synced to the music.There were guards at the entrance for checking of tickets. They weren't really enforcing stay in the vehicles or keep your hands in the vehicles. The car in front of us had kids sticking out both sides of the windows. And even stopped in the middle to change drivers twice. Overall a fun evening. Better signage of where the entrance is would be great!"

Junkstock

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (20)

"Don't let the 5+ year old reviews stray you. Junkstock has dramatically improved their event! This huge outdoor indoor festival at Sycamore Farms is definitely worth the $10 ticket price. The vignettes alone are with the price with many photo opps foe the 'gram. Just walking through the many barns and tents takes well over an hour. There are a dozen or so food trucks a s live music, even a beer and wine garden. So many opportunities to support local businesses and online shops that venture out twice a year to this festival. It was so much fun and there are so many unique and corky items to get as well as trendy clothes, beautiful art and handmade goods. It comes twice a year so mark your calendars!"

Benson Beer Fest

★★★★★ 5 (3)

"The Benson Beer Fest was fantastic. I loved sampling the extensive variety of local, regional and national beers, many of them exclusive to this event.I also loved the focus on local home brewers. I found myself hanging out around their booths the most. For one, it gave me a chance to try some beers I'll never be able to find again. Two, well, they were a really lively and fun bunch to be around.If you're a fan of micro brews or simply enjoy having a good time alongside 1,000 other people on a lovely Saturday afternoon, don't miss the Benson Beer Fest the next time it rolls around."

Extreme Beerfest

★★★★★ 4.7 (3)

"While I used to avoid this early year event, I have been frequenting it the last few years. I definitely was unable to review it the same day as it appeared that I had three computers with about 1000 keys to press.This was the 11th annual Extreme and I am not sure if it is just me or what, but I didn't find it that amazing this time. My current favorite brewery, Madhouse, was there with the sours that I love, but now I can get them at HyVee. Not really a mind blowing chance to snag the hard to finds. Lucky Bucket had their Oud Bruin and that is the only beer that I like from them. There were a few new names and some great beers this year and I had a good time. It is important to note that you should have a buddy system here because you may find yourself wandering aimlessly for a little bit."

Beer & Bacon Festival

★★★★☆ 3.7 (6)

"The beer choices and bacon pancakes were great! We could've used more seating/cover from the sun. Beer lines do get long but overall a great way to socialize and try new beers!"

Maha Music Festival

★★★★☆ 4.3 (3)

"Maha 2017 is in the books and absolutely my favorite Maha to date. Spent way too much money on goods from local vendors and, let's face it, a lot of $6 beers (shoutout to Lyft for the safe ride home).Main reason I loved this year is getting to see Belle & Sebastian live in Omaha. The crew from Glasgow is one of my longtime/all-time favorite groups and their set was magical. Really fitting/beautiful how the sun set behind the stage as they performed. Also saw The Faint for the first time in probably a decade and had to get down and dance -- because when you see The Faint, you dance. The drag I took from some rando dude's (tobacco ;]) joint helped with that. Hey it's what you do at music festivals.Great times all around and one of the best annual events in Omaha!"

Omaha's Original Greek Festival

★★★★★ 5 (4)

"I had never been to the Greek Festival before and it was SO much fun! The Greek pastries were delicious, the festival food was fantastic, and the entertainment was top-notch. The Food:We had the lamb gyro, the chicken gyro, and fries, along with the Greek beer (Mythos). The gyros were delicious - the chicken and lamb were seasoned to perfection! We stayed inside to eat, as the heat outside was getting pretty heavy - but we did want to get outside for a bit too to see the dancers and hear the music.Outside, we had a few more Mythos, and the Loukoumathes pastries - which were little balls of fried dough covered in a honey sauce. They were so good, we had to grab a second order after we finished off the first Once we were at the tent outside, we also got to enjoy the Greek dance troupe and music. They came dancing through the audience too, which was so fun.I had never been to this festival before, but suffice to say - I will definitely be back!"

Midwest Fest

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (3)

"I thought this event was well organized for a new location. They had a wide variety of food vendors and enough shops to fully clean a bank account. I'm excited to see what next year's event will look like!!"

Great Nebraska Beerfest

★★★★★ 4.9 (9)

"The 2015 Great Nebraska Beerfest might have just been my favorite local suds festival to date. Not only did I finally get to check out Werner Park (great minor league baseball stadium), I was able to reconnect with some old friends, say hi to some new family and just have an all around enjoyable day sampling beers from across the country.My favorite area was the tent that housed breweries from Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. It was great to talk to reps from nearby cities and plan my next weekend trip around stopping by their venues. Also, and I'm not sure if this is just the current trend, but Great Nebraska Beerfest saw more than it's fair share of sour beers -- something that'd been difficult to find at other local festivals. From Boulevard to Lucky Bucket to C.I.B. and many, many more, sours were in full effect at GNB. Big props for Nebraska Brewing Company for putting on such a top notch festival. Can't wait till next year!"