Lincoln Zoo Bar owner recounts years of community support on 50th anniversary

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Zoo Bar is a Lincoln staple that is celebrating 50 years of operation in the Star City.

Since 1973, the bar has been serving drinks and bringing local and national music artists to their stage.

Peter Watters began working for the bar in the late ’80s, eventually working his way up to manager before becoming the full-time owner in 2001.

“I got fired from a job that was already hanging out here and they asked me if I want to bartend I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I can do that for a few months.'”

Watters said, while performance times have adjusted a bit over the years, the bar hasn’t changed too much.

“I’m always proud of when someone comes in and says, ‘Man, nothing’s changed,'” Watters said.

Support for the bar has been incredible, Watters said.  When the pandemic hit, friends and patrons stepped up to help.

“It’s it’s kind of nice that we’ve been there long enough to see cycles like that,” he said.

Friday marked day two of ZooFest, which is an annual three-day music festival that began in 1998 on the bar’s 25th anniversary.

SEE ALSO: ZooFest kicks off celebration of Zoo Bar’s 50th anniversary

The event features local artists like Josh Hoyer, who fell in love with the venue when he was just 19 years old.

“I started listening to the bands here, getting curious when I was 19, 20 years old,” Hoyer said. “And then when I was 21, started coming in all the time to hear great music from all over the place that stopped here in Lincoln, Nebraska.”

Hoyer said the Zoo has created a community of new and old musicians who have become a family.

“We’re a family of people that love music, get together and learn from each other, inspire each other,” Hoyer said.

Locals have really gravitated to the spot, and Hoyer said Lincolnites have come to see the cultural significance of the bar and what it has to offer.

“We’ll do the same thing out on the street as we do in the club, and it’s that energy, but yeah, the music fans and the family, they’re family here, and that’s how it is,” he said. “We’ve been seeing people come in from all over the country this week to celebrate 50 years, and seeing people that haven’t been with each other for, you know, 20, 30 years, rekindle their friendships, it just shows, you know, that community is what this is all about.”