Zoo Bar kicks off annual Zoofest
What started as a small event to celebrate the Zoo Bar’s 25th anniversary in 1998 has grown into something much bigger.
“We just did it once cause you know its a milestone, it’s the 25th anniversary. Then it was really fun and then its you know, maybe we can keep doing this and the city was kind of reluctant in the beginning but now they’ve really embraced it,” Pete Watters said.
Zoofest draws in a crowd of over 2,000 and shuts down P street in Lincoln for two days as 10 different performers take the stage.
The music festival offers genres ranging from jazz, country, rock and even the blues.
It’s an event that brings a multitude of friends together including those from out of state.
Including Keith Mooney who traveled from Pennsylvania to enjoy the music
“The people and the good music, the atmosphere, I mean it’s wonderful,” Keith Mooney said.
Most of the festival goers were longtime fans of zoofest.
“For years it’s, it’s special. When Mavis Staples is here, its going to be a great show,” Rick Poore said.
Performer, Mavis Staples seemed to be the fan favorite at the festival. With even Pete getting excited and nervous about meeting her.
“We’re very excited about Mavis staples, we really are. It was a huge gift for us, so we’re looking forward to it,” Watters said.
Some of the performers on Saturday will include The Bottle Tops, Bruce Katz Band, and James Harman.
With opening day being a hot one, Pete doesn’t see it slowing the crowd down for tomorrow.
“It’s a warm one right now but as you can see it shades over. It’s a nice breeze its turned into a really nice night I think so I think it’ll be okay and it will be a little bit cooler tomorrow,” Watters said.
The festivities start again on Saturday with the Blues Ed Program performing at 1 p.m.
