The party in the parking lot - #lakewoodnews

A new part of West Colfax received a new coat of paint thanks to the second annual MuralFest on Aug. 20.

This year's event was at the Lamar Station Plaza and Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, highlighted six new murals and brought together some of the area's best arts vendors and food trucks.

"At the first MuralFest last year we had around 2,000 people, and this year we're hoping for 5,000," said Melanie Stover, creative director for 40 West Arts

There was live music throughout the day, beer was served by the new WestFax Brewery, The Edge Theater performed a song from its first ever musical, "Murder Ballad," and Mayor Adam Paul was joined by Tom Yockey, president of Broad Street realty to celebrate the grand reopening of the Lamar Station Plaza.

"Broad Street is really excited to be a part of all of this," Yockey said.

The event was laid out like a city, with vendors setting up in districts, according to Kevin Yoshida, managing principal of The Abo Group and 40 West leader.

"It parallels the growth we're seeing on the corridor," he said. "We want people to have a more dense experience, with more excitement."

While hanging out at the festival, we spoke to organizers, civic leaders and visitors, and here are the best things we heard:

1. Nick Arnold, visitor: "I was looking for something free and fun to do with my son, Eli, and didn't realize how much this area had been redone. I thought it would be fun for Eli to do some craft stuff and see the murals."

2. Bill Marino, 40 West Arts chair: "We wanted this second festival to demonstrate more of the momentum we're seeing along the corridor. This year we have more of everything - a bigger space, more vendors and more art."

3. Adam Paul, Lakewood mayor: "This is all part of a vision that started in 2005, and it's been through great partnerships that we've got to where we are now. And this plaza area is the epicenter of all the great things happening in our community."

4. Melanie Stover: "MuralFest parallels the aims of 40 West to bring culture to the community. The engagement you have here is so special, and we want to give them an experience they couldn't get anywhere else."

5. Tom Yockey: "This is a celebration of a lot of hard work from a lot of people. It's been an investment by Broad Street, the arts community and City of Lakewood to get this area where it is. And this is just the beginning."

6. Kevin Yoshida: "What if we had a more dense core, where everyone supports each other? We thought that would be a good way to organize and lay out the festival. To give people this experience up close."

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