Zoofest and Lincoln On The Streets to provide Outdoor Music Experience in August

The second week of August will feature two of downtown Lincoln’s major outdoor music events. The two-day Zoofest hosted by the Zoo Bar will take place August 12 and 13 from 5 p.m. to midnight both evenings. Friday the 13th will also be the first concert in the Lincoln On The Streets series, which continues with performances on August 19 and September 17. 

Pete Watters, co-owner of the Zoo Bar, which is celebrating its 48th year in business, says that nothing much will change this year from the previous twenty-or-so years the event has been held. The event would typically be held Friday and Saturday, but due to the large crowd anticipated for the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium on August 14th, the festival has been moved to Thursday and Friday. Zoofest would also typically take place in July, but Watters pushed it back in hopes that there would be less health restrictions later in the year. Projected attendance is around 2000 per night. 

Zoofest will offer a wide range of music, including Blues, Latin, R&B, Americana, and Rock. The festival will be located on 14th Street between O and P. Some performers include Earl and Them, The Hacienda Brothers, Eric Gales, and Nikki Hill. Food and beverage options include Honest Abes and Ali Baba’s Gyros, available on site. Tickets for one or two day passes can be purchased at Etix.com or at The Zoo Bar in advance or day-of.

The Lincoln On The Streets music series kicks off August 13 at 5 p.m. with performances from Dropkick Murphy’s and Rancid. The series will continue with performances on August 19th from Limp Bizkit and September 17th from In This Moment and Black Veil Brides. Andrea Fabiano, head of Booking and Marketing at Bourbon Theatre, says Lincoln On The Streets has hosted musicians from a variety of genres; this year they just happened to book all rock bands.

Lincoln On The Streets started in 2017, drawing inspiration from street dances and smaller music festivals. “We’re capped at around 750 people inside the Bourbon, and it’s kind of fun to bring in some bigger acts in a setting that’s unusual,” says Fabiano. 

All three concerts in 2021 will be held on Centennial Mall in the heart of downtown Lincoln with the capitol building as a backdrop. According to Fabiano, the space can hold over 10,000 people, but in order to ensure that all concert-goers have an optimal view of the performers, ticket sales are capped at 5000. “We want it to still feel like it’s intimate and not like a giant festival where you can’t see anything,” she says. About 3000 attendees are anticipated for each of the three shows. 

Building a temporary venue from scratch in this downtown space comes with its own interesting challenges, such as planning power sources, organizing gear, and putting up fencing. A small team is involved in direct planning, but the Bourbon partners with various other businesses and organizations to put together the event. This includes Pinnacle Bank Arena, which Fabiano says provides most of the infrastructure. 

Like Watters, Fabiano expects that despite being unable to hold the event in 2020 due to COVID concerns, this year won’t be much different from previous years where the concert series has taken place. There will be food and beverage vendors, band merchandise, and restrooms available on site.

Tickets for Lincoln On The Streets can be purchased online, at the Bourbon Theatre during box office hours, at the Pinnacle Bank Arena box office, at CD Warehouse, or at the event gates on the day of show.