Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival

Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is the country and folk weekend of the West at William S. Hart Park, in Old Town Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, at 24151 Newhall Avenue. The city of Santa Clarita runs it. The idea was Ken Pulskamp's, then the city manager. It was going to open in the Hart High auditorium. The 1994 Northridge earthquake stopped that. The Veluzat family offered Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio, in Placerita Canyon, and it started there that same year. In 2015 the ranch was under an exclusive contract for the series Westworld and the festival moved to Hart Park, the home of the actor William S. Hart. It is still there.

2020, 2021 and 2022 did not happen. In 2023 it came back, shorter, to Old Town Newhall. In 2026 it was on its 30th time. General admission is free. There is a VIP pass with merchandise, food and a while with the musicians. Saturday 18 April 2026 opened in the park. Sunday 19 was set from 10:00 to 18:00. In 2014, still at the ranch, about 12,000 people came through, counting the Newhall Thursday. In 2015, already at the park and in town, they passed 13,500.

In 2015 the festival also took the Canyon Theatre Guild and the Repertory East Playhouse, in Old Town Newhall. Phil Lantis, then the city's arts and events administrator, said some people missed the ranch, and that once they knew a big series was filming there they understood. In 2016 the city still looked at the site each year, depending on what was happening at the ranch. In 2024 Dave Knutson, the events administrator, put Carter's Smoked BBQ, River's End Pub, Wild Bill's Old Fashioned Soda Pop and Lucky Luke beer and seltzers on the grounds. The Watering Hole was a shaded patch, with an artist drawing Wanted posters. Knutson wanted to turn it into a saloon over time. The peach cobbler comes out hot, with whipped cream on top.

On Saturday, David Thornbury met people at the gate with trick rope. Sammy Clarita, dressed as a cowboy, bumped fists with the children. A blacksmith stamped people's names on a horseshoe. On Sutler's Row, across from the park, they sold hats and Western clothes. At Gold Rush Games the children played for a prize. The SCV Rotary peach cobbler was still at the stall; the Cowboy Cultural Committee used to make it. There was barbecue and there were sandwiches. At the Horseshoe Honky Tonk people line-danced. At The Barnyard you could see the rescued animals. At Pioneer Corner they made candles, spun wool, stamped leather and panned for gold.

The music that weekend sat on three stages, and the park had four points of sound. On the Mane Stage were Dani Rose, Olivia Harms, Regina Ferguson and Jayden Secor. On the Whistle Stop, Midnight Cowgirls, Jenny Don't and The Spurs, Sam Platts and the Plainsmen, The Doohickeys and The Messick Family Singers. In Hart Hall, Kristyn Harris, Andy Hedges, Dave Stamey, Doug Figgs, Sourdough Slim and Joni Harms. Katie Louise and Thornbury himself were there too. On Saturday, among others, The Messick Family Singers, Jayden Secor and Katie Louise were heard.

The city calendar for that Sunday spoke of more than 15 concerts, of line dancing, of throwing hatchets, of archery and of peach cobbler from a Dutch oven. You walk up into the park from Newhall Avenue. From Interstate 5 you exit at Lyons Avenue, go east to Newhall Avenue and the park is on the right. From the 14 you exit at Newhall Avenue, heading west, and the park is on the left after the tracks. The Metrolink Antelope Valley line drops you at Newhall station, about a ten-minute walk.