Music fest’s cancellation blamed on weather
Organizers of a major Northern California music festival unexpectedly pulled the plug on this year’s event just two weeks before its scheduled start due to safety concerns.
The Sol Blume Festival, headlined by SZA, was set to take place from May 3-5 at Sacramento’s Discovery Park. But due to the park’s condition following heavy rains and flooding earlier this year, festival promoters said, the event has been postponed for the second consecutive year.
“Mother nature has once again caused commotion and created conditions at the festival site that render it unsafe to build on,” promoters ENT Legends said in an announcement posted to the Sol Blume website over the weekend. “Although the park is no longer flooded, the damage remains. Due to significant site damage and growing safety concerns, we will not be able to host this year’s festival.”
The three-day R&B concert is now rescheduled for Aug. 1517, 2025. The promoters did not disclose the new location or whether the lineup will remain the same.
This year’s event was set to feature headliners such as SZA, the “Kill Bill” singer whose latest album, “SOS,” topped the Billboard 200; the hip-hop duo Kaytraminé, and Grammy nominee Snoh Aalegra. Other performers included indie-pop singer Omar Apollo, TikTok star Pinkpanthress, and Canadian artist and producer PartyNextDoor.
Discovery Park, a 302-acre venue, hosts several other events, including the annual hard rock festival Aftershock and the country music concert GoldenSky. The park reopened to the public on April 5 after extensive flood damage, according to Sacramento County Regional Parks. But the park’s infrastructure is not yet ready to accommodate large-scale events.
The Sol Blume Festival has faced numerous challenges since its inception in 2018 at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento. The event was suspended for two years in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was also postponed last year due to rainstorms. “Sol Blume is permanently transitioning seasons to rid us of any weather related conflicts in the future,” the letter from the promoter added. “Although a late summer festival is not what we originally envisioned, if there is one thing we learned from 2023, it is that Sol Blume possesses its own magic, irrespective of time and place, so long as we’re amongst each other.”
ENT Legends is offering ticket holders the option to retain their passes for next year’s event, with automatic upgrades. Refunds will be provided through May 17 to those unable to attend the rescheduled date. VIP pass holders who purchased refundable tickets have until August 2025 to request a refund. Further information is available on the festival’s website.