Tickets are now available for the 13^th annual Summer Meltdown Autism Awareness Art & Music Festival Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1, rocking for the first year at Santa Clarita’s Central Park.

It’s also the first two-day event in Summer Meltdown history, a testament to the marathon festival’s ever-increasing popularity among local music fans, and musicians and artists from all over the West.

The expansion also speaks to the organizational skills of the students with and without disabilities enrolled in the non-profit Yes I Can program at Canyon High School and other Santa Clarita Valley high schools.

Under the guidance of Bret Lieberman, the YIC program director, students spend the school year preparing to stage the annual event each spring, and learn valuable social and practical skills in the process.

Gates open at 10:30 a.m. both days. The lineup is still being finalized, but it’s already killer. Performers will appear on two main stages.

Saturday: Z-Trip, Katchafire, Through the Roots, Chali 2Na, DJ Soul Man, Crooked Treez, True Press, Iya Terra, B Foundation, Bad Neighbors, Thicker Than Thieves, J-Ras, Native Elements, and Iriefuse.

Sunday: Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds, Seedless, The Expanders, Arise Roogs, Jordan Oak, Stranger, R-Mean, Ital Vibes, Janene Phillips, Synrgy, Roots Covenant, and Elmer Abapo.

Live painters/interactive artists: Al Scholl, Kirk O’Hara, Jimmy Ovadia, David Marple, Randolph Sisters, Michael Vee, Amber Crouch, Gilbert Bernal, Zelena Zontos, Ryan Combs, Tara Nichole, Kristal Dyer, Chris Morphis, and Amber Brady.

A fleet of food trucks will roll in for the weekend, and concert-goers can also visit the Artist Village, Vendor Village and the Nonprofit Village.

Single-day tickets general admission tickets are $30; weekend passes are $50. The VIP package for both days is $90. There’s free parking at the park but you can also score front-of-house parking for $10 each day. Check out the order page on the Summer Meltdown website.

For more info, see the Summer Meltdown event page on Facebook, and flash back on local Summer Meltdown press coverage of the first 12 festivals.

This Saturday night, fresh off their gig last weekend at the Whisky-a-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip, SCV teen pop-rock band Breaking 27 and classic rockers TRAXX play separate sets at Schoonerville on Bouquet Canyon Road in Saugus.

Breaking 27’s lineup includes Dakota (lead vocals), Garret and Ryan (guitars), Jace (bass) and Max (drums).

Check out this cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” Ryan created in honor of George Harrison’s birthday today.

Call Schoonerville at (661) 254-1942 for more info about the gig.

On the tube this weekend, SCVTV will present an encore broadcast featuring award-winning cowboy trio New West on “House Blend,” hosted by yours truly Saturday night at 10.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Mike Fleming and featuring lead guitarist-vocalist Raul Reynoso and bassist-vocalist David Jackson play originals and choice covers reminiscent of the traditional California cowboy sound.

If you missed it first time around, or even if you saw the show and pine for more, it’s a mighty fine musical ride.

Santa Clarita journalist Stephen K. Peeples is an entertainment reporter for SCVTV and SCVNews.com, as well as AM 1220 KHTS Radio News and the station’s website at HometownStation.com. Peeples also hosted and co-produced SCVTV’s WAVE-nominated “House Blend” program from 2011-2015, and posts more entertainment news and reviews on his own site at http://www.stephenkpeeples.com.