October 10 Vallejo-Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: The Wild West Returns in Vacaville

For the last six years, Toni Staniewicz has brought cowboys and cowgirls to center stage in Vacaville. This year, her festival is growing into a family weekend affair.

The Wild West Family Festival, set for Oct. 12-13, will feature a chili cook-off, pie eating contest, line dancing, and more, in addition to film showings throughout Saturday and Sunday.

However, the festival didn’t start off quite as grand.

Staniewicz created the original festival just six years ago, after a spark of inspiration.

“I went to The Cannes Film Festival and I was so taken aback by documentaries,” says Staniewicz. “I fell in love with them. So, I said when I get back to California I want to do a documentary.”

“I liked cowboy stories and I liked untold stories,” says Staniewicz, who initially wasn’t sure what she wanted her first documentary to be about. After learning about the Black cowboys of the American West however, she had found her feature film.

Staniewicz, with a crew of about 20 people, went about filming their documentary.

“We went all over the place getting stories,” says Staniewicz. She talked to actors like James Pickens Jr., from the hit TV show “Grey’s Anatomy”, who lives on a farm.

After filming the documentary, Staniewicz had just one question: “What do we do with this?”

“I looked at everybody and said, ‘Hey, we need to start our own Western film festival,’” says Staniewicz.

So, that’s just what she did.

Staniewicz says after coming up with the name of the festival, next came the awards.

“To me, I can’t just go with small awards. I have to go grand. Everything has to be grand,” says Staniewicz.

This year, awards include the Westy Award for Best of Film in each category and the True Grit Award, which honors first responders, servicemen, and everyday citizens who do extraordinary things.

This year at the festival, Staniewicz will premiere her newest documentary, “John Payne the One Arm Bandit.” The feature is based on Payne, an experienced rodeo entertainer and rancher who, after an electrical accident in 1973, lost his right arm. Since then, Payne has gone on to win the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Specialty Act of the Year 15 times.

“He’s the Wild Bill Hickok of our time” said Staniewicz. “He’s a living legend.”

The documentary will be available in short format for viewing on Saturday at the festival, with the full-length documentary still in production and premiering on April 5. Just a little over a week before this year’s festival, Staniewicz was preparing to film the last leg of the documentary at Payne’s house with his rodeo.

But, Staniewicz’s documentary isn’t the only thing she’s been working on leading up to the festival. This year the theme is “Women of the Wild West,” inspired by the women who volunteered their time to help with the festival, says Staniewicz.

“They’re all women anywhere between 50 and 80 and this is what they spend their time doing. Being do-gooders and being the unsung heroes. You may not know their names but all the work seems to get done and it’s just a beautiful thing,” says Staniewicz.

For the past six years, the Wild West Film Festival has continued to grow.

“We’ve been going strong,” says Staniewicz. “Even through COVID we persevere. Even if 100 people only showed up we just kept doing what we’re doing.”

IF YOU GO

• WHAT — Wild West Family Festival
• WHEN — Oct. 12, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Oct. 13, 1-6 p.m.
• WHERE — 308 Main St., Vacaville