OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Spring blooms inside St. Cecilia Cathedral as the 41st annual Flower Festival officially gets underway this weekend.
Every year during the last full weekend of January, thousands of flowers fill Saint Cecilia Cathedral.
"You can walk in here, you can smell it, you can feel it, it just immerses you in art of all kinds," said Sue Sandhoefner, who has been part of the festival since its beginning.
Sandhoefner joins other designers like Damon Samuel and many volunteers in creating arrangements and unique spaces throughout the cathedral.
"It's the church, it's the flowers, it's the designs, the people that are here, it's just a really wonderful social thing for Omaha," Sandhoefner said.
This year's theme centers around bees, featuring elements like hives, honeycombs and flowers throughout the displays.
"We tried to create an atmosphere that looks like bees would be welcome," said James Pierson, executive director of the festival
Pierson said while it will be cold out this weekend, he says it's not as bad as it has been in years past.
"This has been the permeating thing that it is spring in the middle of winter, Christmas is done and now it is like nothing and all of a sudden the cathedral blooms," Pierson said.
The annual event is part of the Cathedral Arts Project. The festival opens to the public for free Saturday afternoon.
"During the run of the show there are musical events that happen every hour, so there is always entertainment here, we have the Lithuanian bakery serving food over in our cultural center, so it is just a whole weekend of fantastic entertainment, all free," Pierson said.
Donations collected during the festival help support events that the Cathedral Arts Project puts on throughout the rest of the year.
Visitors are encouraged to be patient when looking for parking. Pierson says people can park at Duchesne and walk over to the cathedral.
