The sun was shining and Olde Town was filled with art for the first Olde Town Shindig: An Arts and Music Festival. 

From Sept. 8 through Sept. 10, vendors, artists and musicians took over the streets of Olde Town. The festival — organized by the Business Improvement District — featured a wide variety of booths with many local businesses for shoppers to choose from, as well as food trucks. 

The Shindig brought a competitive spirit as well, hosting several competitions, the first of which was a mural competition. Over twenty artists were scattered throughout the festival, painting their murals on large pieces of plywood for festival attendees to watch. Murals were judged in two categories: People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice.

The People’s Choice winners were Corinne Trujillo in first place, Grow Love in second place and Rachel Dinda in third place, while the Judge’s Choice winner was Bobby Magee Lopez. Because he won Judge’s Choice, Lopez will soon get the opportunity to create a mural in Olde Town. 

The festival also featured several other competitions, including a pie eating contest sponsored by Rheinlander Bakery and a bloody mary competition. 

“Really, our goal was to have so many awesome things going on that there's no way that every single person could do everything that weekend," said Joe Henglster, director of the Business Improvement District.

For even more festivities, the Shindig partnered with the Rocky Mountain Archtop Guitar Festival — a festival celebrating the unique guitars with workshops, clinics and musical performances. Several performances were put on in Olde Town, with other shows sprinkled throughout Arvada. 

Peter Henricksen, who organized the Archtop Festival, said that partnering with the Shindig made it “a much larger, more inclusive and more immersive event.”