The 27th annual festival opened Friday with a private gala for artists and closes on the evening of July 3. Organizers expect 350,000 people to attend.The festival features 255 international artists selected by a blind jury from more than 2,100 applications. Thirty-one artists hail from Colorado. Exhibitions span 13 different mediums, from painting to photography and metalworks to fabrics. Two-thirds of the artists have exhibited at the festival before.