Will Sacramento rain dampen the mood at Aftershock Festival? Here’s what to know
The leader of a local hoteliers group involved in planning the Aftershock Festival said rain on the morning of the opening day was unexpected.
But, added Mike Testa, CEO and president of Visit Sacramento, the rain was “not the end of the world” for the event, to be held Thursday through Sunday at Discovery Park in Sacramento. A number of noted artists are expected, including Rob Zombie, Blink-182 and Grammy-winning band with Sacramento roots, Deftones.
A Thursday weather forecast for Sacramento called for cloudy conditions with a high of 71 degrees, with a 30% chance of showers after 5 p.m. There is also a chance of showers stretching into Friday morning.
“These events are rain or shine,” Testa said. “We’ve definitely had some events that were 98 degrees and some events like this that have a little bit of rain, so par for the course.”
Selena Fragassi, a spokesperson for the festival, said Thursday morning that there’d been no impacts from the weather. “We were prepared for the rain,” Fragassi wrote. “Doors opened as planned and bands are performing as scheduled.”
Earlier in the morning, the light rain that fell didn’t appear to be hampering final preparations, with lights for the festival visibly on from Interstate 5 and staging erected for bands to play on. Testa said that Danny Wimmer Presents, the organizer for the event, does festivals throughout the U.S.
“They are used to weather coming out of nowhere,” Testa said. “The biggest impact is wind and it doesn’t look like that’s an issue today.”
He added, “Nobody’s overly concerned about a little bit of rain this morning.”
One other thing for festivalgoers to potentially be mindful of could be traffic. A map available via 511.org showed moderate traffic along I-5 south approaching Discovery Park, with heavier traffic in that direction just north of there near the interchange with Interstate 80.
“There’s a lot of people getting in at the same time and leaving often at the same time, so it may take longer than expected,” Testa said. “But once in, it’ll be a great show. So again, just exercise patience and it’ll be a great day.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM.
