Sunflower Festival in Nelson Produce

Nelson Produce Farm in Valley, Nebraska, plants more than 450,000 sunflowers each growing season in a field-scale display that transforms the Elkhorn River country west of Omaha into something that visitors arriving from the urban corridor consistently describe as unexpectedly sublime. The 2026 Sunflower Festival runs August 15 through September 1 — a 17-day event window that accommodates the full blooming arc of the sunflower variety the farm selects for peak visual impact. Admission is available online through the farm’s website. The Elkhorn River, which runs through the valley east of the farm, provides the water feature that gives the surrounding low-rolling Nebraska prairie its agricultural character.

What the Festival Offers

Daily Rise and Bloom sunrise sessions open the grounds for early visitors before the main festival crowd arrives — a practical concession to the reality that morning light across a field of 450,000 sunflower faces produces photographic results that midday sun cannot match. On August 31, a Butterfly Release ceremony at noon adds a natural history dimension to the final days of the festival calendar. A sunflower maze runs through the field for navigational challenge. The craft vendor program covers sunflower wreaths and regionally made goods. The farm’s fresh produce market operates through the festival run alongside the Front Porch Cafe and Coffee Barn, which provide the sit-down food and beverage option beyond the concession-level sunflower-themed treats, lemonade, and market items. Animal feeding, haybale climbing, and yard games serve the family visitor demographic through the festival’s full daily program. Confirm daily hours and ticketing through the Nelson Produce Farm website before visiting.

The Elkhorn River Valley and Omaha’s Proximity

Valley, Nebraska, sits 20 miles west of Omaha on US-275 — a position that makes the Nelson Produce Farm Sunflower Festival accessible as a day trip from the greater Omaha metro area while also functioning as an anchor for a Nebraska countryside stay for visitors who want the full agricultural landscape experience. The Elkhorn River corridor through Washington and Dodge Counties is one of the more intact riparian agricultural landscapes within an hour of a major Midwestern city, with the river’s gallery forest flanking crop fields in a way that reinforces the farm’s natural setting beyond the sunflower display itself.

Where to Eat in Valley and the Western Omaha Corridor

Kinkaider Brewing Company (6901 Maple St., Omaha, open since 2018) is among the most regarded craft breweries in the greater Omaha market, with a taproom running a full kitchen program alongside its regional brewing operation — the house brisket burger with house-smoked beef, smoked jalapeño aioli, and the house pale ale pairing are the kitchen’s most requested festival-weekend preparations for visitors heading to or from the farm. Miller’s Landing Restaurant (Elkhorn, 10 miles east of Valley, open since 2005) covers the casual family dining category in the western Omaha suburban corridor with a menu anchored by hand-cut steaks and the house Nebraska prime rib on Friday and Saturday evenings that has made it the most reliably populated table in the Elkhorn area on summer weekends.

Points of Interest for Families

The Durham Museum (801 S. 10th St., Omaha, open since 1975 at its Union Station location, the station itself from 1931) occupies one of the most architecturally spectacular Art Deco train stations in the country, with a permanent collection covering Omaha’s immigrant history, the Union Pacific Railroad’s westward role, and the Great Plains Native American heritage that preceded settlement. The restored soda fountain inside the station concourse serves egg creams and hand-dipped malts from original 1930s fountain equipment — a family food experience that gives the museum visit a physical dimension most history museums cannot provide. The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium (3701 S. 10th St., Omaha, ranked among the world’s top zoos for more than a decade) covers 130 acres with a 1.5-million-gallon aquarium, a glass-enclosed indoor rainforest, and a desert dome that gives families one of the most complete single-site natural world encounters available in the American Midwest within 30 miles of the farm.

Book Your Stay on the Water

The Platte and Elkhorn River corridors near Valley provide the closest natural water access for festival visitors. For a lake-adjacent Nebraska stay, search Lake.com for properties at Lake Cunningham and in the Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area corridor, where Nebraska’s western Omaha lake system provides vacation rental proximity within easy driving distance of Nelson Produce Farm.