‘Baker’s Dozen’ headline Omaha’s summer festivals and events

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Omaha
Take me out to the ball game! Omahans and visitors will have two opportunities to see some of the best in college baseball, as TD Ameritrade Park will be the site for the Big Ten conference tournament in late May and the annual College World Series in June.

April showers bring May flowers, right? In Omaha, they also bring summer festival season. Beginning with the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting the weekend of April 30, Omaha has a festival or major event almost every weekend through the middle of July. We’re going to be in town for most of the events this year, the “Baker’s Dozen” as we can call them.

Berkshire Hathaway Days

Thousands of people will invade Omaha days before the April 30 stockholders meeting at the Century Link Arena downtown. Omahans embrace the visitors that come into town from across the world. National media will follow Warren Buffett – The Oracle of Omaha – as he assesses his vision on investments and the economy. CNBC and Fox Business news will be the major outlets following his every move.

Omaha
Warren or Charlie? Visitors to the annual Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting at the end of April will get a chance to the Oracle of Omaha himself – Warren Buffett.

We attended the Berkshire Hathaway meetings a couple of years ago. Hold on! We don’t have THAT kind of money. Our eldest daughter actually bought some of the cheaper stock, so she invited us to join her. It was fun checking out the exhibition floor, with vendors displaying their wares. All the vendors are subsidiaries of Berkshire, and include Geico Insurance, Dairy Queen, Justin Boots and Borsheim’s jewelry. It’s entertaining people watching and vendor visiting. You can get some nice swag during the floor visits.

Omaha
Warren Buffett is a fan of Dairy Queen. So, Berkshire Hathaway saw a good investment.

We are out of town the first weekend of May, but there are a couple of huge events in River City.

International

Omaha will host the International equestrian jumping and dressage competition May 5-7. It has hosted the event for a few years. Hundreds of competitors from around the United States will participate.

Omaha
The International seems to have found an annual home at Omaha’s Century Link Arena.

This year’s event is a warm-up for the city, as it hosts the 2017 World Cup Finals for dressage and jumping, sponsored by the International Equestrian Bureau. The weeklong event will start March 27, 2017.

Cinco de Mayo

Across town in South Omaha, the city celebrates Cinco de Mayo the weekend of May 6-8. The annual festival’s parade along 24th Street is May 7.

Omaha
Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo parade is the largest in the area.

UNO Wambli Sapa Memorial PowWow

We will be attending the first Native American powwow to be held at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Baxter Arena. Hundreds of dancers from the Midwest and other areas of the United States and Canada will converge on the arena May 21. We attend the annual powwow in Winnebago, Nebraska, in late July almost annually. We’re planning to attend the powwow the weekend of June 17-18 at my home reservation in Santee (northeast Nebraska).

Omaha
Our area’s powwow season kicks off with the Wambli Sapa Powwow at UNO’s Baxter Arena.

The Wambli Sapa Memorial Powow will feature Native American actor Gary Framer (one of my favorites) as the guest emcee. Farmer acted alongside my brother, John, in a few movies. Among them is my favorite “Powwow Highway.”

Big Ten Baseball Tournament

Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park will host its second Big Ten baseball tournament Memorial Day weekend, May 25-29. In 2014, fans set a conference tournament record for attendance with more than 65,000 attending games. The first game of the tournament actually eclipsed the previous tournament overall attendance record of a little more than 12,000 when almost 13,000 people attended the opening game. Because of Omaha’s support for college baseball, the Big ten recently announced Omaha would host the tournament from 2018-2022.

Omaha
Go Big Red! Nebraska aims to be one of the teams at the Big Ten’s baseball tournament in Omaha over Memorial Day weekend.

Taste of Omaha

Food will hihglight the following weekend, when Omaha’s Heartland of America Park and Lewis and Clark landing will be the site of the annual Taste of Omaha. Omaha-based restaurants will sell visitors some great food June 3-5. The variety of food in this city is amazing – Italian, Mexican, American, German and others.

Omaha
Scotty’s is one of our favorite food trucks. We look forward to seeing Scotty and more at Omaha’s taste of Omaha in June.

Taste of Omaha features a variety of entertainment, including some great concerts by local bands, as well as some national acts. It’s a fun and filling weekend.

Omaha
The troupe was exciting to watch as they handled fire with some really cool moves. Remember kids, do not try this at home…or anywhere else for that matter.

Santa Lucia Festival

The second week of June will flood Omahans and visitors with several weekend activities. First, the Santa Lucia Festival will kick off its weekend of fun, food and music June 9. The four-day event will be hosted at the Lewis and Clark landing, alongside the city’s Missouri River trail.

Omaha
Bocce is part of the fun people can have at the Santa Lucia Festival.

The festival started in 1925, as more Italians settled in Omaha. The local festival was an attempt to recreate Carlentini’s Santa Lucia Festival, allowing immigrants a connection to their home country and their faith.

Summer Arts Festival

A short stroll form the Landing is downtown Omaha, home of the annual Summer Arts Festival, June 10-12. The festival takes up a few blocks of downtown, and offers a look at some interesting and unique art. Vendors from around the Midwest, and other parts of the United States, will set up shop.

Omaha
The robots are alive! Or so they look, as they and other great art exhibits will be display at Omaha’s Summer Arts Festival.

The festival features art, food, music and other entertainment over a three-day period. We look forward to checking out the scene annually.

Sand in the City

Sand in the City, a fund raiser for local charities, consists of team from local companies and artists creating some really neat works from sand. The three-day event runs June 10-12. This year, however, the event moves farther into the city. Sand in the City will be hosted at UNO’s Baxter Arena. The nearby Aksarben Village will offer restaurants, drinks and shopping for festival visitors.

Omaha
Godzilla! This was a cool sand art exhibit at a past Sand in the City event.

College World Series

The next two major events for Omaha will overlap a few days. The annual College World Series baseball championship kick off at TD Ameritrade Park June 18 and runs through June 28/29. The eight best teams in college baseball will compete to be crowned the national champion.

Omaha
Attending the College World Series should be on every traveler’s bucket list. The event is impressive regardless if you are a baseball fan.

If you’ve never been to the CWS, it should be on your bucket list. While most of the games are sold out, it’s easy to buy tickets. You just have to pick the right games to see, as well, as just find the fans selling their tickets outside the stadium. You can avoid the ticket brokers easily. You just need to be alert to them.

Olympic Swim Trials

Across a couple of parking lots, hundreds of swimmers and thousands of fans and others will dive into Century link Arena for the 2016 United States Olympic Swim Trials. This is the third consecutive time Omaha will host the event, which will determine the United States’ Olympic team that will compete in the Brazil Olympics later in the summer. The trials run June 26-July 3. We enjoyed the trials when we attended.

Omaha
Omaha is hosting the US Olympic team swim trials for the third consecutive time. It has been a popular event in the area.

Bank of the West Celebrates America

Bank of the West Celebrates America concert will be July 1, and features Kenny Loggins. We are excited to see him in person. Lisa and I are fans of his music. The concert, which occurs the Friday before July 4th, has grown in popularity through its more than 25 years. The concert has attracted up to 80,000 people, who sit on the grass, in lawn chairs or on blankets while watching great recording acts such as Styx, Foreigner, America, Kansas, Huey Lewis, Joan Jett and Pat Benatar.

Omaha
Omaha’s Independence Day celebration kicks off July 1 with a concert featuring Kenny Loggins as the headliner for “Bank of the West Celebrates America.” Fireworks follow shortly after the concert.

Railroad Days

Our summer of fun culminates with Railroad Days July 16-17. Museums, botanical gardens and other places with railroad ties open their doors to the public. The weekend activities include Omaha’s old Union Station (now Durham Museum), Union Pacific Museum, Rails West Museum and Lauritzen Gardens are among the attractions thousands of people will flock to visit.

Omaha
Railroad Days in mid-July has become a family tradition, as we spend time with Lisa’s uncle, who is a train fanatic.

The weekend’s events are sponsored by Union Pacific. The Omaha and Council Bluffs (Iowa) attractions are available for a small fee for a family, which covers the entire weekend.

Wow! I feel like I need to take a weekend just to relax after previewing the festivals and events that await the Omaha area. Anyway, if you’re planning a trip to Omaha this summer, take into account the summer festivals, as they can add to a great visit.