Tucked off U.S. 24 west of Colorado Springs is a Brigadoon of sorts.

But instead of the mystical Scottish village that appears one day every century in the classic Broadway musical, you’ll find the tiny, verdant town of Green Mountain Falls, which transforms into an arts multiplex for 16 days every summer.

This year’s 18th annual Green Box Arts Festival will run from the Fourth of July through July 19 in locations throughout Green Mountain Falls.

“We wanted to start on the Fourth of July to celebrate America 250. It felt like a great kickoff,” said the festival’s executive director, Scott RC Levy.

A hallmark of the event is providing audiences with up-close seats to a bevy of arts experiences, including dance, visual arts and music. It also provides seats in arts workshops, ArtDesk conversations, cooking classes, yoga classes, sound healings in the Skyspace installation, guided hikes and more.

This year’s festival will offer 152 events, slightly up from last year’s event. Events are both free and ticketed. Reservations are strongly suggested.

“We thrive on providing intimate experiences,” Levy said.

Five things not to miss at Green Box Arts Festival

Fourth of July celebration, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, free; free shuttle bus from Ute Pass Elementary School, 9230 Chipita Park Road, to Green Mountain Falls.

The free daylong festivities begin with a Fourth of July parade at 10 a.m. and end with the water lantern launch at 9 p.m. on Gazebo Lake. In between are a community performance hour, hot dog lunch and a pie contest. The alt-country group Opera Cowgirls will perform at 2 p.m., and a block party will feature bluegrass band Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, roots rock band Cary Morin &  Ghost Dog, and swing band Jeremy Mohney & His Orchestra.

Opera On Screen–Santa Fe Opera’s “La Bohème,” 7 p.m. July 12, 1 p.m. July 15, Sallie Bush Community Building, 10795 Ute Pass Ave., $10.

Green Box will be the first organization outside of New Mexico to screen a filmed version of a production by the world-renowned opera house. Set in Paris in the 1920s, Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera revolves around six Bohemians, including the poverty-stricken Rodolfo, who falls for the deathly ill Mimi. Before the inaugural screening, visitors are invited to bring their lawn chairs, blankets and picnics to a pre-opera tailgate picnic 5-6:45 p.m. in Pool Park. Picnic boxes will also be available for sale.

Six new pieces of visual art, including the large-scale installation “Open House” by Mexico-based artist Billy Joe Miller; free guided art walks almost every day during the festival and Saturdays through September.

Last year’s kaleidoscopic “Off the Beaten Path,” a Skynet art installation over Gazebo Lake by local artist Patrick Shearn, went viral, helping to attract more than 100,000 visitors over the summer. This year, Miller’s cabin-sized and shaped work will stand on the town’s new Anderson Trail, behind the Green Box Farm Stand on Lake Street. A two-minute walk along the flat trail will bring you to a huge open cabin with a ceiling but no walls, and a roof made of blue acrylic tiles that create dappled light. Boulders in the center of the piece will offer a place to sit.

“It’s designed to be a sanctuary space,” Levy said.

Among the other five new pieces of art is a wind phone at the town overlook. Created and gifted by the Colorado-based nonprofit Lynda’s Phones, wind phones look like real phones and act as a symbolic way to connect with lost loved ones and provide healing during the grieving process.

This year’s commissioned artist is Colorado Springs artist Shannon Mello, whose mixed-media works will be featured in the annual Lake Street display.

Closing Day Block Party with Amis Du Teche, 6-9 p.m. July 19, Green Box Farm Stand, Lake Street, free.

The Cajun band, whose name translates to “friends of the Teche,” is a group of friends who grew up together on the historic Bayou Teche in Breaux Bridge, La.

Oklahoma City Ballet, the festival’s featured dance company of the summer, 7 p.m. July 10-11 and 16-18, 2 p.m. July 12 and 18-19, Sallie Bush Community Building, 10795 Ute Pass Ave., $15.

Among the works the professional company will perform this summer is a restaging of a portion of the original choreography from the famous 1942 ballet “Rodeo,” composed by Aaron Copland and choreographed by Agnes De Mille.

IF YOU GO

What: Green Box Arts Festival

When: Saturday through July 19

Where: Various locations in Green Mountain Falls

Price: Some events are free, some are ticketed, reservations recommended; greenboxarts.org