In the years since its founding, the 40 West Arts District has become the beating heart of Lakewood’s arts community. And every year, its biggest party is the West Colfax MuralFest.

The 2018 MuralFest is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, at Lamar Station Plaza (located at Colfax Avenue and Pierce Street) and along the district’s newly unveiled 40 West ArtLine, a four-mile pedestrian- and cycling-friendly arts experience.

The fourth MuralFest continues the trend of getting bigger and better every August, with creative vendor booths, free trolley rides, live painting, local entertainment, food trucks, craft beer and creative activities for the whole family. Most importantly, it shows off the city’s biggest art gallery - the famous boulevard itself.

“We’ll be giving visitors mural tours around the city so they can see all that has been created,” said Kevin Yoshida, a 40 West board member. “Murals allow you to think about your city as a creative campus.”

Last year’s MuralFest attracted more than 5,000 people and numbers are on track to be just as high with performances from local musicians like Pandas and People, Graham Good and the Painters, Maya Bennett and Emelise Munoz. According to information from 40 West, Azure Antoinette, named the “Maya Angelou of the millennial generation” by Oprah, will also appear.

The fest gets a touch of international flair with Italian muralist Pepe Gaka, and will also feature Thomas Evans, who has painted multiple sites in the Denver area, and Steven Teller, an artist and muralist based out of Florida.

For all the important information for this free event, visit www.westcolfaxmuralfest.org.

A Magic trip to Boulder in the ‘70s

People who spent a lot of time in the Boulder area in the early 1970s have more likely than not heard of local band Magic Music.

The group lived out of a makeshift camp in the mountains and would head down the hill to perform acoustic, harmony-driven tunes for residents and students.

The band’s most famous member is Chris Daniels, who was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2013, and also includes Will Luckey, George Cahill, Rob Galloway and Kevin Milburn.

Despite its popularity in the area, success never came calling, and the group dissolved in 1975. But Boulder alumni and fan of the band Lee Aronsohn decided to track down the members 40 years later for a reunion concert.

The resulting film, “40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie,” is directed by Aronsohn and will be specially opened at the Sie Film Center, 2510 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver, on Friday, Aug. 10.

For more information about the movie and screenings, visit www.magicmusicmovie.com.

A comedy duel in Parker

In a contest between improv teams, it’s been my experience the audience is usually the winner. When two teams of comedians are working that hard to make people laugh, hilarity is almost guaranteed.

Laughs will abound at the family-friendly Improv Duel at the Studio at Mainstreet, 19600 Mainstreet in Parker, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11.

The event pits comedy teams from the Parker Players against each other to determine the funniest while performing comedy games in the vein of TV’s “Whose Line is It Anyway?”

For more information and tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week - Father John Misty at Red Rocks

Josh Tillman, better known as Father John Misty, is one of those musicians that doesn’t seem to leave much room for the casual listener. People either find his sharp and, at times, biting lyrics and persona endearing and entertaining or pompous and self-indulgent.

There’s unlikely to be a consensus on the man any time soon, but his music remains fascinating and insightful. While it doesn’t reach the peaks of “I Love You, Honeybear,” this year’s “God’s Favorite Customer” is a straight shot of John Lennon-esque instrumentation and lyricism.

In support of the album, Father John Misty will be stopping by Red Rocks, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15.

And as if Misty wasn’t enough, indie rock polymorphs TV on the Radio will open the show. Don’t miss it.

For tickets, visit www.redrocksonline.com/events/detail/father-john-misty.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com.