Thousands Visit West Colfax MuralFest

Bigger and better than ever, the third annual West Colfax MuralFest this past Saturday celebrated the arts and culture of our historic corridor with three top-notch local bands, 30+ vendor booths, food trucks, kids' activities, "pop-up" entertainment acts, live mural painting, and a very popular trolley tour of local murals and public art.

While a late afternoon thundershower shortened the stay of some vendors, it didn't dampen the spirits of the thousands of attendees who enjoyed the fun and friendly atmosphere of the arts and music festival, located for the second year in a row at Lamar Station Plaza.

"What a great event! We enjoyed the art vendors, the live music-and the WestFax beer!" shared Tom Yockey, president of Broad Street, who attended the festival with his family and out-of-state guests. "The festival had a great vibe--and I've never seen the plaza's parking lot so full." Event organizers reported the center's parking lots were at near capacity by 1pm and that beer sales were double that of last year, adding that WestFax Brewing Company's Colfax Cream Ale was a clear favorite.

Food and art vendors were busy, too. "This was one of our best festivals of the year," explained 40 West Artist Member Deb Otero, who along with her husband Mike had a booth at MuralFest displaying leather goods and other hand-made items. "We had steady sales throughout the first 4 ½ hours of the event. We'll definitely be looking forward to next year."

In addition to the mini-murals painted on site by Next Gallery and C2 Gallery, the two feature muralists were Bobby MaGee Lopez, who was busy painting his surrealistic vortex on an out-parcel building at the center; and Dan Toro, who completed his idyllic Colorado camping scene mural, which was purchased by Container Collective Yoga & Bikes and will be installed on their building on Ammons Street in the coming weeks.

Event Chair Cindy Baroway and the entire executive committee want to thank everyone involved: the City of Lakewood, the event sponsors, Lamar Station Plaza management team and tenants, the arts and food vendors, the dozens and dozens of dedicated volunteers, and all the festival attendees! "We'll be back again next year!