Opening
Night 

Date: July 2026

Location: Outside Pinnacle Bank Arena

Time: 7 p.m.

Decorated former Husker Volleyball player and national championship coach Dani Busboom Kelly will help kick off the 41st annual Cornhusker State Games during Opening Night festivities.

Busboom Kelly will headline the torch lighting ceremony, part of a program that is free and open to the public. Hiland Dairy will provide free ice cream treats for those in attendance.

The Opening Night program begins at 7 p.m. and will be televised and streamed live by News Channel Nebraska. It will include interviews with Miss Nebraska USA Audrey Eckert, Lt. Governor Joe Kelly, and other special guests, followed by the presentation of colors and the national anthem, performed by UNL student Olivia Vanderford.

The torch relay, escorted by soldiers from the Nebraska Air National Guard, will carry the flame across the pedestrian bridge to the area outside Pinnacle Bank Arena, where Dani Busboom Kelly will complete the ceremony by lighting the caldron.