Ready to rock at the black parade?
The 14th iteration of the Aftershock music festival is only six weeks away, and organizers on Tuesday shared the set times and scheduled locations for the more than 140 rock and metal bands slated for the four-day festival at Sacramento’s Discovery Park.
Aftershock 2026, the self-proclaimed largest rock, punk and metal show on the West Coast, is scheduled for Oct. 1-4, with some of the biggest names in the hard rock genres headlining at the park along the American River Parkway.
My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Pierce The Veil, Tool and Sacramento-born Dance Gavin Dance will perform across five stages during the event.
Festival-goers can download the free Aftershock app on iPhone and Android, which allows attendees to build their personalized schedule ahead of time.
A limited number of festival passes and car, tent or RV camping reservations at Cal Expo are still available online at the Aftershock website.
A child cheers on headliner Bring Me The Horizon during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com When are My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit playing at Aftershock?
Aftershock gates open at 11 a.m. on each of the festival days.
The festival opens on Thursday, Oct. 1, with Leap lighting up the Shockwave stage at 11:30 a.m., followed by Primer 55 on the Faultline stage five minutes later and Free Throw on the main Aftershock stage at 11:55 a.m.
Some of the biggest names playing on the Aftershock stage on Thursday include Mayday Parade at 3:15 p.m., Sublime at 6:20 p.m. and headliner My Chemical Romance, which is celebrating 20 years of Welcome to the Black Parade, at 8:25 p.m.
A stacked schedule at the Aftershock stage on Friday, Oct. 2 includes Insane Clown Posse at 2:40 p.m., Cypress Hill at 4:15 p.m., Public Enemy at 5:55 p.m., Wu-Tang Clan at 7:35 p.m. and headliner Limp Bizkit at 9:45 p.m. At the Shockwave stage, $uicideboy$ will perform in the evening, at 8:40 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, a yet-to-be-announced unsigned band will take The Point Stage Presented By Coors Light at 12:30 p.m. This band will be chosen through the Aftershock Battle For The Big Stage, a battle-of-the-bands-style competition on the streaming platform Twitch. Viewers can tune in on Sundays at 3:30 p.m. and vote for their favorite performer to move on to the next round for a chance to win the coveted set.
Later, Sleeping With Sirens will rock out on the Aftershock stage at 5:35 p.m., followed by Babymetal at 7:20 p.m. and headliner Pierce The Veil at 9:25 p.m.
Sacramento music fans will be treated to a hometown favorite on Sunday, Oct. 4, when Dance Gavin Dance takes the Faultline stage at 8:10 p.m. That same day, Queens of the Stone Age will perform on the Shockwave stage at 7:20 p.m. and final headliner Tool will hit the Aftershock stage at 8:25 p.m.
A crowd surfer smiles during the Aftershock festival on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Discovery Park in Sacramento. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com Search for your favorite bands’ Aftershock 2026 set times 
Tanya Freshour of West Sacramento gets ready to cheer, goth style, for Hinder during the Aftershock festival on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com
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Camila Pedrosa is the California Diversions Reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked on The Bee’s service journalism team and was a summer reporting intern for The Bee in 2024. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.