Registration is open for the 2026 Youth Talent Show Series + Battle of the Bands Competition
Free registration now open for youth talent competition series to be hosted in Douglas and Sarpy county
Omaha, Neb.— This summer, Omaha Mobile Stage, in collaboration with its community partners, is hosting a free outdoor amateur talent competition series open to youth ages 3 through graduating high school seniors. In 2026, the regional series is hosted in partnership with civic and performing arts leaders in Douglas and Sarpy Counties.
The winners of the eligible age divisions of each preliminary showcase, held from May 31-June 14, 2026, will advance to Finals at Gene Leahy Mall on June 28, 2026.
The program is modeled after the beloved Goodfellows Show Wagon, which was an Omaha Parks summertime tradition from 1952 through 2010.
Booking a youth act for these competitions are free and open to the public. Attendance at events is free. To participate, each youth act must sign up at www.omahamobilestage.org.
Omaha Mobile Stage is also hosting a separate Battle of the Bands competition on May 3 at Millwork Commons
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Battle of the Bands is a youth competition, open to bands with members up to age 20. Winners will be booked on a summer showcase show at Reverb Lounge. Sponsored by 1% Productions.
Talent Show Eligibility
The competition is open to all performing arts genres, including music, dancing, singing, drumming, drama, musical theater, comedy, improv, poetry, spoken word, opera, illusion, and puppetry.
Competition is open to ages 3 through graduating high school seniors.
Competition age divisions are: Preschool (3-5), Youth (6-8), Pre-teen (9-11), Junior (12-14), Senior (15-graduating high school seniors).
Acts may be made up of individuals or ensembles. Ensemble acts will compete in the age division of the oldest member.
Contestants may appear in no more than 2 acts per season.
For a complete list of rules, stage sizes and judging criteria, visit www.omahamobilestage.org/youthtalentshow
Youth Talent Show contestant, Marty Si, playing guitar at Tom Hanafan Park in Council Bluffs during the 2025 Youth Talent Show.
Thank you to our 2026 Youth Talent Show Series Sponsors!
Presenting Sponsors
Douglas County Visitor Improvement Fund Grant Award, Millwork Commons, and Staenberg Family Foundation
Youth Talent Show Series Sponsors:
The RiverFront, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Mutual of Omaha, City of Papillion, and SumTur Amphitheater
Battle of the Bands Sponsors:
1% Productions and Omaha Girls Rock
Youth Talent Show Pre-Teen division winner, Charlie Jefferson, singing “Defying Gravity” at Youth Talent Show Finals in July 2025.
During the summer of 2025, the series attracted more than 1,800 audience members and featured 92 unique youth acts, made up of 170 individual youth performers.
Show Wagon History
By the 1970s, Omaha’s Show Wagon program was an annual right of passage for hundreds of young performing artists who competed at local parks throughout the city. The program ended in 2010 due to budget cuts.
The end of Show Wagon left a void in many neighborhoods where the youth competition brought people together.
Jessica Scheuerman, executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha, saw the defunct Show Wagon program as the perfect opportunity to support young artists while building community. “In 2021, we were building the Omaha Mobile Stage to increase access to the arts at the neighborhood level,” said Scheuerman. “We quickly realized neighborhoods wanted Show Wagon back and started building the metro-wide network to host and support it.”
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About Omaha Mobile Stage & Partners for Livable Omaha
Omaha Mobile Stage (OMS) is a community venue for performing artists of all ages and a teaching venue to train the next generation of creatives. OMS is owned and operated by Partners for Livable Omaha (Livable Omaha), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the livability of communities throughout the Omaha metro (Tax ID 85-4187964).
