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West 4th Avenue will rekindle its roots as an arts and music mecca at this weekend’s Khatsahlano Music Festival.

It was a 1960s and 1970s hippie hub that morphed into one of the most affluent areas of the city – but West 4th Avenue will rekindle its roots as an arts and music mecca at this weekend's Khatsahlano! Music and Arts Festival.

Blues rock duo the Pack A.D., rocker Rich Hope, the classic blues-infused No Sinner and indie favourites Gold & Youth and Brasstronaut are among the 50 acts that will perform on 10 stages at the free street fest, which last year drew more than 80,000 people.

Also lining the stretch from Burrard Street to Macdonald Street will be sidewalk sales, a food cart fest featuring 35 of the city's top culinary carts, the Peak Performance Project and markets by Blim and Portobello West. But one of the biggest draws will be This Happened Here, an art exhibition curated by The Arrival Agency – the creative group that transformed the Waldorf Hotel into a cultural hotbed, launched the Food Cart Festival and is helping to relight the Fox Theatre.

The history-themed show will include photos of Vancouver punk pioneers by Bev Davies; rare poster art by legendary illustrator Bob Masse; a retrospective of works by famed animator Marv Newland (the man behind Bambi Meets Godzilla ) and a participatory piece by Paul Wong, all of whom will display their works in shipping containers. "I love seeing the street come alive," says Grant McDonagh, who founded Zulu Records in 1981. "And if the goal is to show a cross-section of what's going on in the city, this is a darn good example."

The Khatshalano! Music and Arts Festival runs along West 4th on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. khatsahlano.com

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