The 2016 Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is set to return to Newhall for the second year in a row due to filming scheduled at Melody Ranch Picture Motion Studio, event officials announced Monday.

While the most recent event held earlier this year was the first time in the event’s 22-year history the festival wasn’t held at Melody Ranch, the venue change actually resulted in an increase in attendance, according to Phil Lantis, the city’s arts and events administrator.

“Last year we did surveying after the event and also heard from our patrons throughout the event,” Lantis said, “and while I would say there was definitely some disappointment about it not being at Melody Ranch, once people understood what the challenges were up there and that there was a main production (filming) everyone seemed to understand.”

In fact, the venue change allowed event officials to expand the festival from its primary location at William S. Hart Park to Old Town Newhall, where related performances took place at the Canyon Theatre Guild, the Repertory East Playhouse and several other locations.
As a result, the number of people who attended the 2015 festival in Newhall was actually slightly higher than the year before at Melody Ranch, Lantis said.

Approximately 12,000 people attended the main festival at Melody Ranch and the related Thursdays@Newhall SENSES event in 2014.

The most recent festival drew more than 13,500 people total between the main festival at Hart Park and the associated events and performances held in Old Town Newhall.

“We got some really positive responses to the new location, so we’re very happy with it,” Lantis said. “Hart Park and Old Town Newhall gives us a little more room to try some new things. We expanded our activities last year and we’re hoping to even more this year.”

In addition to an expanded selection of events and performances, the venue change also provides attendees with the comfort of shaded areas at the main festival at Hart Park while also helping draw those visiting Santa Clarita from out of town to nearby restaurants and businesses in Old Town Newhall.

“It’s not easy to leave the ranch to go grab dinner or lunch,” Lantis said. “It’s nice to be able to bring the folks that are coming to town to visit the event into Old Town Newhall and show them that wonderful part of the community.”

However, the annual festival’s move to Newhall is not permanent at this time, Lantis said, and the location will continue to be determined “year by year, depending on what’s happening at the ranch.”

The 2016 Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is set to begin Thursday, April 21 and continue through Sunday, April 24. Tickets go on sale Monday, Jan. 4 with more information coming soon on the event website.