In the beautiful city of Omaha, Nebraska, the Maha Festival at Aksarben Village is taking place Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the beloved music festival which has included past acts such as Beach House, Car Seat Headrest, Lizzo, Weezer and many more incredible artists. Aside from the live entertainment, the Maha Festival is a sense of pride for the people of Nebraska because of its mission of being a large-scale, zero waste event. With over 850 volunteers annually, the festival serves as a showcase of community, inclusivity and sustainability for the city of Omaha. 

This rings true the very first moment one steps into Aksarben (Nebraska spelled backwards) Village, where the festival is held before moving to a larger space next year. The decorations are bold and colorful, the vibe is extremely family friendly with plenty of arts, crafts and games, and even through the extreme heat, festival goers are clearly there for a good time while also demonstrating respect for others and their environment. All around the festival grounds are separate bins for recycles and compost with volunteers at the ready to help differentiate what goes where. The Maha Festival demonstrates how easy it is to be environmentally conscious in a world where it seems impossible to create any change. However, if every person is able to help the cause in a small way, then the world may begin to show some signs of hope. 

The first day of the festival includes plenty of exciting musical acts such as homegrown talent from Nebraska including hardcore band BIB, hip-hop artist Hakim and electro-pop trio, Icky Blossoms. Canadian indie pop group, Alvvays, and heavy hitting punk outfit, Turnstile close out the first night of the festival. And one of the best things about the Maha Festival is that there are no scheduling conflicts due to both stages being directly side by side. So once one artist finishes their set, the next one is ready to perform just a few steps away. So one can essentially see the entirety of each artist’s set without having to compromise which is every festival lovers dream come true.  

BIB

The first act of the day was Omaha natives, BIB. A heavy and aggressive start to the day, BIB played a brutally noisy set, in the best way possible. The Nebraska based group brought distorted vocals, screeching guitars and plenty of energy. Since BIB was the first band to play, there were still festival goers trickling in, so the crowd was rather small, but they came to party. Even with the weather inching close to 100 degrees, festival goers were not afraid to get sweaty moshing in front of the Union Pacific Stage. No cup of coffee is as good a wake-me-up as starting the day with a hardcore band like BIB.

Hakim

Next up was Hakim. Representing the Corn Coast, Hakim brings plenty of silky flows over banging trap and atmospheric instrumentals. As dark clouds began to roll in taunting festival goers with the possibility of rain, Hakim continued bringing the chill vibes to Maha Festival with the audience bouncing along to every song. He ended his set with the fan-favorite “Airplane Mode,” leaving the crowd more proud than anything to see an artist like Hakim representing their home town. 

After Hakim’s set, the festival organizers calmly but efficiently asked festival goers to evacuate the Aksarben Village due to a thunderstorm warning. Most festival goers were either told to go back to their hotels or the parking structure to hide out until the storm passed. Once the rain started coming down, everyone was thankful they were not stuck outside despite it being extremely hot earlier. The rain was heavy and the wind made it impossible to find any sort of shelter even standing under a building awning. Fortunately, the storm was short-lived, and the festival resumed shortly after it subsided. 

Icky Blossoms

Even with their set time pushed back to accommodate for the weather, Icky Blossoms was still fortunate to play their set as scheduled. The Nebraska-based trio played plenty of electro-pop and high energy tunes making it impossible not to dance to. Like the true professionals that they are, they got on stage and commanded the crowd instantly as if there was no storm at all. The thumping synths, groovy bass lines and colorful on-stage aura made Icky Blossoms a perfect comeback set after the slight hiccup of rain. 

EKKSTACY

Moving back over to the LinkedIn Stage, Canadian singer-songwriter EKKSTACY took to the stage. A rather highly anticipated set, EKKSTACY is known for his angsty, pop-punk vibes, similar to artists like Jean Dawson or Paris Texas. The set definitely felt very beachy and up-tempo, with the crowd rocking out and having a blast every step of the way. 

Alvvays

The Toronto-based indie group Alvvays was up next at the Union Pacific Stage, providing shimmery and glitzy production with a slight crunch. Alvvays is known for their reverb-drenched indie-pop, with sweet and soft vocals, as well as heartbreaking lyricism. The band played a majority of the tracks from the 2022 record, Blue Rev, a handful from Antisocialites, and a couple from their self-titled record including the massive hit, “Archie, Marry Me.” This was a fun, summery set with giant beach balls being tossed around the crowd. 

Turnstile 

The final set of the night were Baltimore-based heavy-hitters Turnstile. Riding off a massive wave of success with their latest record GLOW ON, touring with Blink-182 and earning a few Grammy nominations, it seems like Turnstile can do no wrong. And the Maha Festival set proved that so well. The band walked out to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” which is a very appropriate title if dancing includes moshing, circle pits and jumping around. 

For such a musically diverse lineup, having Turnstile close out the first night was beautiful seeing that hardcore music is alive and thriving. “MYSTERY” kicked off the hour and a half long set which kept everyone moving until the very end. The wailing guitars, booming bass and Brendan Yates’ nonstop energy was infectious and solidified the festival’s choice to end the night with a little “T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION).” Turnstile’s set was very inclusive with Brendan constantly asking if the crowd was okay, the festival goers being careful making sure no children in the audience were getting trampled, and just making sure everyone was comfortable and having a nice time. In true Maha Festival fashion, the final song ended with a confetti cannon blasting biodegradable confetti, leaving a guilt-free conscience for rocking out. 

Day One of Maha Festival brought plenty of electrifying moments, and day two is sure to include plenty more memorable sets from artists such as The Beths, Peach Pit and Big Thief.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat