Ak-Sar-Ben: The Quirky Story Behind One of Omaha's Most Beloved Traditions

Here is a fun little puzzle that unlocks one of Omaha's most charming secrets. Take the strange-looking word Ak-Sar-Ben, the name attached to a thriving Omaha district, a historic arena, and a century-old civic tradition, and read it backwards. Ak-Sar-Ben spells Nebraska. That playful bit of wordplay, dreamed up well over a century ago, is the key to one of the most beloved and uniquely Omaha stories there is.

It began in 1895. Omaha's business leaders, organized as the Commercial Club, the forerunner of today's Chamber of Commerce, wanted to lift the city's spirits and boost its economy. They created a festive civic organization to celebrate Omaha and draw people downtown, and with a wink of Heartland humor, they named it after the state spelled backwards: the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben. What started as a clever promotional idea grew into one of the most enduring traditions in the city's history.

The Knights threw themselves into making Omaha shine. They staged a grand annual fall festival with parades and pageantry that drew crowds from across the region. At the heart of it all was a spectacular coronation ball, a glittering event at which a King and Queen, drawn from the community, were crowned amid royal ceremony, surrounded by elaborately costumed attendants and an air of fairy-tale grandeur. For generations of Omaha families, being part of the Ak-Sar-Ben court was a treasured honor, and the coronation remains a cherished tradition to this day.

Ak-Sar-Ben also gave Omaha some of its most beloved gathering places. The organization built the Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack in 1920 and the grand Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum in 1929, and for decades these venues were the beating heart of the city's entertainment. The Coliseum hosted concerts, sporting events, rodeos, ice shows, and the famous stock show, while the racetrack drew enormous crowds. If you grew up in Omaha in the twentieth century, chances are some of your fondest memories happened at Ak-Sar-Ben.

Like all things, that era eventually changed. The racetrack closed its gates in the 1990s, and for a time it seemed an Omaha institution might simply fade into memory. But the city did what Omaha so often does with its history: rather than let it disappear, it reinvented it. The old Ak-Sar-Ben grounds were transformed into Aksarben Village, a vibrant, modern mixed-use district full of shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, and a university campus, all gathered around the lovely Stinson Park, where summer concerts and farmers markets now draw happy crowds. The name lived on, the spirit lived on, and a beloved old place was reborn for a new generation.

Through all of it, the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben never stopped doing good. The organization has long devoted itself to philanthropy and to building up the community, quietly supporting countless causes across Nebraska and pouring its energy back into the city it was created to celebrate. More than a century after a group of boosters spelled Nebraska backwards for fun, their creation is still making Omaha a better place.

That is the delightful heart of the Ak-Sar-Ben story: a city that can laugh at itself, dream big, honor its past, and turn even a silly backwards-spelled name into a century of pride, celebration, and generosity. When you visit Omaha, stroll through Aksarben Village, relax in Stinson Park, and enjoy a district that carries a wonderfully Omaha story in its very name. Before you come, see everything happening around the city on our Explore Omaha event calendar, and start planning your visit to a city with a great sense of humor and an even greater heart.