In an official announcement on Friday, the organizers of one of Sacramento, California’s largest music festivals announced that the event has been postponed following weeks of uncertainty for ticket buyers. It will also not happen this year, reports KCRA 3.
“For the second year in a row, Sol Blume has faced challenges that require us to make a significant change to the festival as we know it, Mother nature has once again caused commotion and created conditions at the festival site that render it unsafe to build on,” a statement from Sol Blume read. “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.”
SZA, Kaytramine, Snoh Aalegra, Pink Pantheress, and many others were expected to appear this year during the Sol Blume festival. It is not yet known if any of those performers will be part of the lineup for the festival in 2025.
As of now, the festival will be held on Aug. 15-17, 2025. Refund requests can be made starting April 22 at 12 p.m. An email will be sent with a link to submit a refund request, which will remain open until May 17, 2024. Returnable pass holders will have a longer window of opportunity until Aug. 12, 2025. They will also get a $100 voucher that can be used for either merchandise or food and beverage purchases.
Layaway plan holders can hold onto the upgraded passes or request a refund. Those with pending payments or defaults can either cancel their layaway plans or reinstate the order for 2025 by May 6, 2024.
Also, automatic upgrades will be made to the following passes: GA passes will be upgraded to the GA+ pass, GA+ passes will be upgraded to VIP passes, and VIP passes will be upgraded to Returnable VIP passes. Sol Blume organizers expect that upgrade to appear on Friday in pass holders’ accounts.
Festivalgoers were never clear whether that was still the case until Friday, only two weeks before the festival’s first day. As a result, many people wondered if Sol Blume would still happen, including out-of-state visitors who needed to arrange their travel plans to get to Sacramento in time.
Sol Blume’s social media platforms are also full of comments from people asking for clarity. The organizers have been quiet on social media since the end of February, and as of Thursday, ticket purchasers have not yet received their wristbands or any further information regarding the event.
Sol Blume’s website, which still counted down to May 3, had updated its FAQ page and linked to a Google Form for food vendor applications. The form now reads: “The festival has been postponed until a TBD date. Applications will be valid for new dates once announced.”
According to a Sacramento County spokesperson who spoke with KCRA 3 on Thursday, the parks department contacted the organizers of the annual R&B festival earlier this month to inform them that the venue may not be suitable for the event. Sacramento County reports that Sol Blume organizers have not yet contacted them about their plans, and their permit for Discovery Park is still valid.
In addition, KCRA 3 obtained a copy of a letter Sacramento County Regional Parks Department Director Liz Bellas sent to festival organizers on April 5, following up on a letter she sent on March 8 in which she said Discovery Park was still flooded. “While my staff have been working diligently to clean the park and have it open for general use, the conditions of the park remain such that it cannot withstand a large festival with heavy infrastructure in early May,” the letter read. Last year, the event was rescheduled from April to August after severe flooding in Discovery Park early in the year.