![]() ![]() “The teens and its founders work closely together on everything imaginable to make the festival come to life. ![]() Yes I Can students learn about disabilities, selfadvocacy, goal setting, self-determination, collaboration, communication skills, as well as the appreciation of diversity in a year-long elective class. Hart School District in 1999 with the help of the City of Santa Clarita. Modeled after a federal program developed by the University of Minnesota, YIC began as a pilot program in the William S. “By exposing these teens to a major music and arts event like the Summer Meltdown Festival, it embraces their team-building skills, while developing their knowledge of the music and arts industries- there is nothing better I could think to give them, as music is our universal language.” Just to see the smiles on their faces and watch them make such huge accomplishments, is like nothing else I have experienced,” says co-founder Bret Lieberman. As a special education teacher, who specializes in Autism, my passion lies deep with these kids. “To have the opportunity to teach these extraordinary kids true-to-life skills that they could learn alongside music industry professionals, and to be able to grow their new-found talents year after year as they move on to college was a nobrainer for me. Bret, Lisa, and their Yes I Can students ran with the idea, working to enrich their social and occupational skills. Together, they came up with the idea of producing a concert in the community in hopes of having a place to fit in. Bret Lieberman and Lisa Lamedman, along with their socially isolated students who were being bullied, developed the concept of the Summer Meltdown Art and Music Festival. ![]() This eleventh annual arts and music festival is co-produced with its founders and the students in the Yes I Can program, many of whom are teens living on the spectrum of Autism. The festival will offer a variety of specialized food trucks for tantalizing cuisine for the most critical of palette, and will feature many local and regional artisans who will be on hand to both display and sell their handcrafted goods. All performances will be a traditional electric set, while Matisyahu and the Dirty Heads take to an intimate evening performance under the Santa Clarita stars. The Summer Meltdown Autism Awareness Art & Music Festival takes place on April 26, at the City of Santa Clarita Skatepark and field, and will feature thirty bands on four stages, with fourteen live artists, who will paint/draw live on stage as the bands perform to enhance the overall experience for fest-goers. The Yes I Can Program has benefited more than five hundred students, and is run by YIC students, volunteers, and trained teacher advisors. The founders, and 12 students, conceptualized the event, with the notion that if they produced a concert for their community, other teens just might find them “cool,” explains festival founder, Bret Lieberman. The Yes I Can – Unity Through Music and Education Program is a 501-c3 nonprofit organization, which developed the Summer Meltdown Festival in 2004 to provide youth on the Autism spectrum an opportunity to be a part of the community, develop occupational skills and simply find a place to fit-in amongst their peers. In conjunction with the Santa Clarita, California based “Yes I Can” (YIC) program, this unique and most inspirational festival is co-produced by youth living on the Autism Spectrum. This year, Billboard© topping artists Matisyahu and The Dirty Heads perform an acoustic show for one fun-packed, music-blissful day to celebrate music, arts and community, while enriching the lives and confidence of youth living with Autism and other disabilities. The Summer Meltdown is the most notable and largest arts and music festival of its kind featuring A-list musicians. ![]()
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