SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The countdown ended Thursday morning for thousands of heavy metal and rock music fans who’ve waited all year long for the return of Aftershock.
More than 160,000 people are expected to attend the festival over the next four days in Discovery Park.
There’s no shortage of fans from the Sacramento region at the festival, but since organizers call it ‘the largest hard rock festival on the West Coast,’ it attracts attention from hundreds of miles away.
Heather Gentry and her friend flew in from Idaho and are staying in Rancho Cordova.
"I think that there's a lot of bands who are playing right now that are not going to be playing for much longer, so there's really kind of a historical opportunity to see them play before they retire,” Gentry said.
Visit Sacramento says the festival brings in more than $28 million in economic impact to the region.
"People are staying in hotels from Yolo to Placer County. This is one of those events that demonstrates we don't have enough hotel rooms in Sacramento because it fills everything up, all the Airbnbs, all the Vrbos. This is something, also, when these folks get out of the festival, they're going to the restaurants, they're going to the bars,” said Visit Sacramento CEO Mike Testa.
Testa says about 70% of the attendees don't live in the Sacramento region, and many are still flying in.
The Sacramento Airport says it’s anticipating a total of 265,000 inbound and outbound passengers Thursday through Monday, although there’s no way to tell who’s coming specifically for the festival.
If you’re planning on going to the festival, there are a few things to know. You can find general festival information HERE or more specific parking and traffic information HERE.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: Headed to Aftershock? Here’s how you can get there, plus areas to avoid
