Marie Wise-Hawkins

Marie Wise-Hawkins is headlining a weekend of Western music, shows and events in Santa Clarita for the 2015 Cowboy Festival.

There are also themed events scheduled all over Newhall from April 15-19, including Heritage Junction, Hart Mansion at Hart Park and Rancho Camulos Museum.

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The theme of the dayslong celebration is a recognition of the Santa Clarita Valley’s wild west past, including Western traditions, cowboy showmanship and, of course, music.

The musical portion of the weekend begins Friday with Cow Bop, an intimate, one-night-only, Western swing-in-the-living-room performance at the spacious Hart Mansion at Hart Park.

Cow Bop

The recent Western Swing Hall of Fame inductees are only playing one show for the festival, and space is limited.

On Saturday night, Marie Wise Hawkins, a Santa Clarita Valley musician who led her band to the finals of this year’s national Country Music Showdown competition in Nashville, is headlining a dinner show at Heritage Junction, starting at 6 p.m.

Tickets for the dinner and show Saturday are still available and can be purchased here.

Admission to William S. Hart Park includes access to performances by 15 bands on four stages, as well as living history exhibits, food vendors, western gear shopping, shuttle service to and from William S. Hart Park and activities for all ages, according to the event’s website.

E.J. Stephens

A limited number of VIP packages are also available. Each package includes admission to William S. Hart Park, weekend access to the Hart Hall VIP area including food and beverages, VIP shuttle to and from the festival and a “Buckaroo Buck” good for one piece of Cowboy Festival merchandise.

Individual tickets are also on sale to several music performances happening at Canyon Theatre Guild, Repertory East Playhouse and The Vu Bar and Lounge throughout the Festival weekend.

The festival weekend actually kicks off Thursday, April 16, with the first of a two-part Film Tour of the Santa Clarita Valley.

The 2 p.m. tour, led by SCV residents and film historians E.J. and Kim Stephens, invites visitors to “explore the rich Western film history of the Santa Clarita Valley.” It departs from the Cowboy Festival shuttle site and “heads north toward  Agua Dulce, passing several filming sites along the way, including Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch.”

The second part of the tour begins the next morning on Friday, April 17.