The City of Santa Clarita held the Free to be Me Festival, an inclusive event designed to accommodate special needs residents on Saturday.

The second annual Free To Be Me Festival took place at the Canyon Country Community Center Saturday afternoon, celebrating those with special needs and their families in Santa Clarita.

“It was definitely well-received last year, we had community members that were so appreciative that there was an event that they felt safe to attend, and really catered to their needs,” said Kyle Lopez, event supervisor for the City of Santa Clarita. “That’s why we’re hosting it again for a second year.”

During the event, attendees got to enjoy a series of inclusive and adaptive activities, including live sensory-friendly entertainment, arts and crafts, recreational activities and sensory play.

The festival also had a “chill zone” for those in attendance who needed a calming space.

Free to be Me had both outdoor and indoor activities, as well as a wide variety of accommodations, including noise-cancelling headphones, sign language interpreters onstage and stickers with phone numbers available for identification purposes.

“Looking to the future, we are looking to make more events sensory inclusive,” said Lopez.

The idea for the event was born when local resident Dena Bogrow reached out to the city.

“She wanted to bring her daughter to events but there wasn’t a sensory safe space,” said Lopez. “City leadership asked how they could help and make an event for those who have challenges, and this is the event that came from that brainstorm.”

Bogrow’s 23-year-old daughter Alexandra liked listening to music and dancing, but attending Concert in the Park events was challenging for her due to heavy crowds, making the event less enjoyable and keeping her from joining the dance floor.

“I went to them because I wanted her to be able to have a place where she could be herself,” Bogrow said. “That’s where the ‘Free to be Me’ name came from, so that the kids could be themselves.”

Bogrow’s daughter feels much more comfortable participating in the inclusive event.

“She’s very engaged, and she’s excited and she sees the therapy dogs and all the people,” Borgrow said. “She loves people… so it’s very exciting for her, and she’s really enjoying it.”

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