08/01/2026
🇺🇸 Wilber, Nebraska — the Czech Capital of the USA ❤️🇨🇿
This weekend, July 31–August 2, 2026, the small town of Wilber, Nebraska, once again becomes one of the most Czech places in America during the annual Wilber Czech Festival.
And if you've never been there, you might be surprised by just how Czech this little Nebraska town really is.
🇨🇿 Czech flags on the streets.
🏛️ A museum dedicated to Czech-American history.
🎨 Murals celebrating Czech heritage.
🥟 Kolaches and traditional Czech food.
🎻 Polka, brass bands and the traditional Czech Beseda dance.
👑 Miss Czech-Slovak US.
🇨🇿 And even signs welcoming visitors with “Vítáme Vás!”
All of this in a Nebraska town of fewer than 2,000 people.
🌾 How did the Czechs get to Nebraska?
After the Homestead Act of 1862, settlers could claim up to 160 acres of federal land if they lived on and improved it.
Czech immigrants began arriving in the area around present-day Wilber in the 1860s. The fertile farmland offered new opportunities, and over the following decades this part of Nebraska developed one of the strongest Czech communities in the United States.
Wilber itself was established in 1873 with the arrival of the railroad. Although the town was not founded by Czechs, Czech immigrants and their descendants soon became an important part of its identity.
🇨🇿 How did Wilber become the “Czech Capital of the USA”?
By the early 1960s, local Czech Americans were concerned that their traditions and heritage were slowly disappearing.
In 1962, four local men — Joe Vosoba, Eugene Zajicek, Walter Baer and Rev. William Temps — helped launch an effort to preserve and celebrate the community's Czech heritage.
Their vision included a festival, a museum, tourism and, most importantly, keeping Czech traditions alive for future generations.
The idea worked.
In 1963, Nebraska Governor Frank Morrison proclaimed Wilber the Czech Capital of Nebraska.
And in 1987, the U.S. Congress recognized Wilber as the Czech Capital of the USA. 🇺🇸🇨🇿
🎉 For one weekend, the entire town becomes a Czech festival
Tens of thousands of visitors traditionally come to Wilber for a weekend filled with Czech-American culture and traditions.
You can experience a large Czech costume parade, Miss Czech-Slovak US, polka and brass-band music, traditional Beseda dancing, kolaches and Czech food, the Czech Cultural Center and museum, classic cars and tractors, and much more.
❤️ Czech heritage is everywhere
Walk through downtown Wilber and you'll find Czech flags, historical murals, Czech-inspired businesses and signs reading “Vítáme Vás.”
Names such as Novak, Dvorak, Prochazka and Svoboda are reminders of families whose roots in this part of America go back generations.
For a moment, it can feel like a little piece of Bohemia or Moravia somehow landed in the middle of the Nebraska prairie.
And Wilber is far from the only place where Czech and Slovak immigrants left their mark.
Czech-American communities and traditions can still be found in places such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa; West, Texas; Prague, Oklahoma; New Prague, Minnesota; and, of course, Chicago.
Together, these communities have helped keep Czech and Slovak heritage alive in America for more than 150 years. 🇨🇿🇸🇰🇺🇸
🎥 This video was filmed during last year visit to the Wilber Czech Festival in 2025.
If you're anywhere near Nebraska this weekend, the 2026 Wilber Czech Festival runs July 31–August 2.
❓ Have you ever been to Wilber? Does your family have Czech or Slovak roots somewhere in America? Tell us where! 🇨🇿🇸🇰🇺🇸
📷🎥 Wilber Czech Festival 2025
🎵 Beer Barrel Polka
