Omaha Events June 4–11, 2026: Ironman, Polishfest, Pool Openings & More Things to Do

Summer is officially here, Omaha — and this week's edition is packed with things to know, do, and eat around the city.

Let's get into it.

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🏊 Omaha's public pools are open for summer — here's where to swim
Most Omaha public pools opened Monday, including Deer Ridge, Elmwood, Hanscom, Hitchcock, Miller, Oak Heights, Roanoke, and Elkhorn. Camelot Pool won't open this year due to a filtration tank failure. Gallagher and Zorinsky are delayed for maintenance, while Karen and Spring Lake open June 5.

♻️ Elkhorn Girl Scout turned cafeteria food waste into 2,500 pounds of donated meals
Kansas Lohmeier earned her Girl Scout Gold Award by creating "The Food Bins" — collection containers placed atop school cafeteria trash cans that capture untouched fruits and veggies. The food goes straight to Saving Grace Perishable Food Pantry for same-day redistribution to soup kitchens and after-school programs. Her project continues even as she heads to Colorado State this fall.

🌱 Nebraska's seed library movement is quietly spreading — no library card required
Omaha's Common Soil Seed Library, the state's first, launched at the Benson Branch in 2013, distributed over 143,000 seed packets last year. Now Nebraska City and libraries across the state are launching their own programs. The idea is simple: take seeds, grow a garden, donate some back at harvest. Anyone can participate.

Retro Royse — Expert Alterations for Bridal, Formal & Everyday Wear Lizz Royse spent years as Head Seamstress at one of Maryland's top bridal boutiques and even sewed for the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles. Now she's brought that expertise to West Omaha — and she's ready to work on your most important looks.

Wedding gown, formal suit, vintage treasure — Retro Royse handles it all with the kind of care you won't find at a chain alteration shop.

New to Omaha and ready to meet you.

Coneflower Creamery is in the running for USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for the fourth year in a row, competing against 20 ice cream shops nationwide. If you want to help your favorite local scoop shop bring home the title, voting is open daily through June 8.

Hooters at 12710 Westport Parkway in La Vista has shut its doors for good. If you're still craving wings in that style, the metro's last remaining location is across the river at 2910 23rd Avenue in Council Bluffs.

Pancake Café by Agave Azteca opened on May 29 at 5170 South 72nd Street in Ralston, complete with a ribbon cutting, free pancakes, and a live mariachi band. The new breakfast-focused concept is an extension of the Agave Azteca family.

7 Brew is adding yet another drive-through location to the Omaha area, this one at 4316 South 130th Street. The coffee, tea, and energy drink chain already has a northwest Omaha spot and one that opened June 1 in Council Bluffs, with another planned near 168th & Harrison Street.

Anna's Place, the speakeasy currently tucked inside downtown's Hotel Indigo, is on the move. The bar filed a building permit to remodel a new space at 1111 Harney Street in the Old Market, previously home to Mouth of the South.

Sonny's is opening a second seasonal outdoor bar this June at 724 North 16th Street in the Builders District, situated in a small park between 16th & 17th streets just south of Cuming Street near Creighton University.

The Capital Grille is making its Nebraska debut, with plans to build a 9,144 sq. ft. restaurant on a 1.9-acre lot at 14500 Branch Street, southwest of 144th & West Dodge Road. The upscale steakhouse chain, which has 77 locations across 30 states, currently has its nearest spots in Kansas City and Minneapolis.

Bora Bora Smoothie Café is gearing up to open in a newly built retail strip northwest of 192nd & Q Street. The quick-serve concept serves smoothies, juices, coffee, waffles, and crepes. Signage is already up outside, though interior work hasn't started yet. The Kuwait-founded chain has around 25 U.S. locations, mostly on the East Coast, and already has a related Omaha location (Bora Bora Juice) at 13110 Birch Street.

Another Bar (yes, that's really its name) has moved into the Blackstone space at 3710 Leavenworth Street previously held by True American Bar, under new ownership. True American had been operating in the former Marylebone Bar & Grill space since May 2024.

Q: Long before Earth Day, what holiday was first proposed by J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper editor in Nebraska City, resulting in the planting of one million trees in Nebraska on April 10, 1872?

(Answer below.)

Play Word Search! New Nebraska themed game every day.

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A: Arbor Day