NOMAFEST: Omaha’s Annual Jazz Festival

August 8th, 2025

From riffing around town to groovy basslines, North Omaha Music and Arts (NOMA) has become a key player in reigniting the fires of jazz in the Omaha community. Based out of the former Love’s Jazz building, NOMA is both a music academy and a performance space. Executive Director Dana Murray says, “Jazz is a great vehicle and catalyst because there is so much history rolled up into that music—not just music history, but Black history, and the history of that corridor that we reside in.”

An Omaha native who grew up in South Omaha, Murray is committed to nurturing the city’s jazz scene. “I am committed to not only developing young talent but helping to develop a more thriving, gainfully active music scene,” says Murray. “The potential is there, the talent is there—if we can just keep it here. Retaining talent lifts the ceiling, and there’s no better motivator than your peers around you.”

NOMA is reaching people where they are, bringing vibrance to the music scene through its events and community outreach.

The largest of those events is NOMAFEST, a two-day music festival that brings together big-name musicians from the national jazz scene—such as Eric Gales, Lakecia Benjamin, and Ghost-Note—alongside local Omaha talent. This event is at the forefront of jazz’s progression in the city. As Murray puts it, “You don’t know unless you know, until you’ve seen what the possibilities are… I believe in this area so much that it can be that—it used to be that.”

NOMAFEST will take place at Turner Park on August 9th and 10th. More information about North Omaha Music and Arts and NOMAFEST can be found at northomahamusic.org.