Large Sacramento block party returns after seven-year hiatus. It expects 10,000 people

A highly anticipated Sacramento block party expects to host nearly 10,000 attendees this weekend as the event returns following a seven-year hiatus.

Sacramento entertainment and hospitality group HOF, which stands for “Hall of Fame,” is reviving and revamping its homegrown party, HOF Day, which will take over the Capitol Mall from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

HOF Day, first held in 2015, is an ode to Sacramento that showcases local talent such as DJs, artists and vendors.

“We want to cultivate Sacramento, (put on) a showcase of Sacramento,” HOF co-founder and co-owner Tony Christ said. “A lot of people lean on artists or DJs from outside of Sac, but we want to focus on our people, our friends. This is for Sacramento, by Sacramento.”

Robbie Metcalf, HOF co-owner, said their goal is to do something for the city.

Co-owner Damian Lynch added: “We’re just excited to be in Sacramento. (We) hope that we’re contributing to the Sacramento culture, pushing it and doing everything we can to entertain and promote the city.”

Limited free entry RSVP tickets are available on Eventbrite. Beginning Wednesday, general admission tickets go on sale for $20. It’s $40 for their fast entry and $100 for VIP tickets, which includes fast entry and access to the reserved area which includes VIP bars and bathrooms.

Origins of HOF

The first ever HOF Day event was held in 2015. It attracted thousands along the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.

It legitimized the group, co-owners said, however HOF Day isn’t where they made their name.

Lynch said the first party they ever threw was in 2008 at a hookah lounge near Sacramento State, called Cobblestone, which is no longer open. Like a pack of sardines, he said the place was packed.

“We did a few hundred people, for sure,” Lynch said. “It wasn’t that big of a place, it was relatively small.”

Prior to 2015, the group would throw parties in foreclosed homes or abandoned warehouses, and periodically host events in alleyways or at small venues like the local hookah lounge.

Christ said that HOF parties were born when they got out of high school and wanted to bring people from different high schools together in one spot because people usually partied with whoever they went to school with.

Instead, he wanted to unify everyone.

“It’s really about bringing folks from all walks of life together,” Christ said. “Come as you are.”

As they grew in stature, Lynch knew that at some point they needed to sustain their legitimacy and suggested to the group that they make their events official.

“We’re doing three or four parties a year at this point and there are 1,000 people at the parties, 2,000 people at the parties, but they’re getting shut down, we’re making no money,” Lynch said. “It’s not going anywhere. Like, we need to do this legit. Everything up until that point had been illegal…we were just a bunch of kids kind of (messing) around and it wasn’t sustainable.”

Around 2014, Lynch suggested that they do a “legit,” permitted event. Lynch gained mentorship by other event producers who helped provide the blueprint to host their festival.

Helping to curate Sacramento culture

HOF Day quickly drew large crowds.

Its second year, in 2016, organizers brought out producer Metro Boomin as a headliner. Sacramento electronic and hip-hop duo Hippie Sabotage headlined the HOF event in 2017.

The event took a break in 2018, as Christ and Metcalf turned their attention to nightlife. Christ began managing downtown Sacramento nightclub District 30, and Metcalf began to emerging as a sought-after club DJ.

HOF eventually took over Tiger Bar and Restaurant on K Street in 2019 and began taking off in the nightlife scene until the COVID-19 pandemic caused global business closures.

Lynch said HOF Day was supposed to resume in 2020, but the pandemic prevented it.

Once deemed safe to go outside, HOF focused its attention on building Tiger’s name, revitalizing entertainment and nightlife in the downtown Sacramento’s K Street and consistently giving people something to do.

With HOF Day finally back, organizers say they hope to continue to grow it into a festival in the future that brings top artists to Sacramento for a three-day concert.

“We’re just excited to be in Sacramento,” Lynch said. “(We) hope that we’re contributing to the Sacramento culture, pushing it and doing everything we can to entertain and promote the city.”