8 Quirkiest Nebraska Towns To Visit In 2025

Although 2025 is more than half over, there are plenty of quirky events to attend before the year ends. Many are set to occur in Nebraska, especially in small, offbeat communities. From a pirate festival in August to a second St. Patrick's Day in September to a celebration of the dead in November to a Christmas extravaganza in December, here are 2025's quirkiest Nebraska spectacles and the towns where you can find them.

Greeley

Greeley is also called Greeley Center, which is appropriate since its marquee event happens "Half-Way to St. Pat's Day." Each year in mid-September, this tiny village hosts the Greeley Irish Festival, where you can have a second St. Patrick-style celebration six months from the first. So why is Greeley perhaps the only place with a biannual St. Patrick's Day? It was settled by Irish immigrants, and even today, Irish descendants comprise ~40 percent of its population, making Greeley the "Irish Capital of Nebraska."

If able to attend the fest on September 20, 2025, grab a pint from Whistler’s Pub and Grill and a pastry from The Belfast Bakery after enjoying the Family Clan Parade at the "Shamrock Intersection."

Nebraska City

Nebraska City is the "birthplace of Arbor Day." Naturally, it puts on a pretty awesome Arbor Day celebration, one that spans multiple days and a bevy of activities. However, 2025's Arbor Day Celebration has already passed, but you can visit Arbor Day Farm in time for other unique events. They include Dolls Dolls Dolls, an August-long doll-orama surrounding National Doll Day; Pirates-Themed Weekend, a buccaneering bonanza set for Saturday, August 16, and Sunday, August 17; and the AppleJack Festival, a celebration of all things apples that runs for two weekends in September. Apple pie, apple cider, caramel apples, and apple donuts are some of the apple offerings at that fantastic fall fest.

Mitchell

Mitchell is a small city in the Nebraska Panhandle, arguably the quirkiest region in the state. Neither land nor sky is untouched by oddities, whether that be the Scotts Bluff National Monument in nearby Gering or the striking constellations at the Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area. Thanks to Mitchell, the Panhandle gets even quirkier in August, when the Mitchell Airfield is overrun with wiener dogs and overflown with hot air balloons. All come courtesy of the Old West Balloon Fest, which is the re-inflation of a similar event held in the 1980s and 1990s. This iteration's 11th anniversary is set for August 14 to 17, 2025 (the wiener dog races are scheduled for August 16).

Ord

Ever wanted to attend a 500-mile flea market? Visit central Nebraska in late September. That is when the Nebraska Junk Jaunt happens across nine counties and 35-plus communities. Take the Junk Jaunt "looping route," which comprises the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway and the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway, to visit roadside vendors selling collectibles, antiques, vintage goods, and scrumptious food. Centering the Jaunt is Ord, a city of about 2,100 people and several "junk" shops ranging from Second Hand Rose to Tutie’s Treasures Thrift and More. They are anything but Ord-inary.

Crete

Crete is great, especially before Halloween. On the first full weekend in October, thousands gather around Main Ave for Crete’s Great Pumpkin Festival. They enjoy pumpkin snacks, pumpkin drops, hayrides through the Old Mill Pumpkin Patch, and a pumpkin pie-eating contest. Besides pumpkins, Crete is known for Doane University, which is considered the oldest private university in Nebraska. You can tour the ancient campus, stopping at historic buildings like the Boswell Observatory (c. 1883), before watching athletic training at the uniquely named Fuhrer Field House (named after brothers John and Earl Fuhrer).

Papillion

Located in the middle of America, Nebraska is around 1,000 miles from any ocean. That does not stop bands of "pirates" from pillaging this midwestern state in late August. They come for the Midwest Pirate Festival, a multi-day cosplaying extravaganza set in the small city of Papillion. Activities include fencing, rum tasting, treasure hunting, and water walking, the last of which entails a refreshing stroll through "sea spray." 2025's Pirate Fest is to run on August 23 and 24 at the Bellevue Berry & Pumpkin Ranch, whose other scheduled events range from Pumpkin Season starting on September 13 to The Day of the Dead Festival starting on November 1 to Christmas in the Country starting on December 7.

Minden

While Papillion puts on a pretty Christmas celebration, Minden takes that holiday spirit to another level. This community of about 3,100 people is called "Nebraska's Christmas City." Each December, some 12,000 lightbulbs are illuminated across the Kearney County Courthouse and Courthouse Square. Also illuminating the square is the Light of the World Christmas Pageant, an adaptation of Christmas's origin story held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first two Sundays in December.

If you would rather not wait till winter to visit Minden, come for the Pioneer Village, a museum complex covering 20 acres, 28 buildings, 50,000 artifacts, and two centuries.

Hastings

In 1927, in Hastings, NE, a man named Edwin Perkins invented a powdered drink that would become known as Kool-Aid. Almost a century later, little Hastings celebrates its big claim to fame with a giant festival. Kool-Aid Days span three August days and attract thousands of attendees. 2025's edition, which is scheduled for August 15 to 17, is set to feature the World's Largest Kool-Aid Stand, the Kwickest Kool-Aid Drinking Contest, and the Kool-Aid Kardboard Boat Races on Lake Hastings.

If you cannot make it to Kool-Aid Days, you can still celebrate that titular drink at the Hastings Museum, whose permanent exhibit, Kool-Aid: Discover the Dream, "explores the life of Perkins and how Kool-Aid became an international cultural icon."

Covered in plains and cornfields, Nebraska may not seem like a quirky destination for 2025, but these towns prove otherwise. Spend August at Mitchell's Old West Balloon Fest and Hastings's Kool-Aid Days. Conquer September at Greeley's Irish Festival, Nebraska City's AppleJack Festival, and Ord's Junk Jaunt. Enter October at Crete’s Great Pumpkin Festival, do the same in November at Papillion's Day of the Dead Festival, and then close out the year at Minden's Light of the World Christmas Pageant. That 2025 vacay should change your perception of Nebraska from corny to nutty.