By Dylan Owens

Levitt Pavilion Denver, on June 28. Denver’s amphitheater, which opens on July 20, took eight months to build. (Provided by Levitt Pavilion Denver)

Though Levitt Pavilion Denver will be the seventh in a series of Levitt Pavilions across the country when it opens in Ruby Hill Park on July 20, it will be the largest of them all, not to mention one of a kind in Denver.

With an adjustable capacity that can accommodate as many as 17,000 people, the $7 million, 63,450-square-foot amphitheater will be the largest outdoor dedicated music venue in Denver proper, with a maximum capacity more than double that of Red Rocks. (Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater, which seats 18,000, is in Greenwood Village.)

Aesthetic flourishes set it apart from the competition in less quantifiable ways. “Sky Song,” an interactive art installation, will be dedicated at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 30 minutes prior to the venue’s first concert. Dreamed up by Denver artists Nick Geurts and Ryan Elmendorf — who collaborated on a 16-foot-tall metal sculpture of a head and hands emerging from the desert at Burning Man last year — the shiny steel 8-foot structure invites passersby to press any combination of its 33 buttons, which will activate lights on a nearby building facade during a concert and activate bells when all’s quiet.

A rendering of “Sky Song,” an interactive art installation that will be dedicated at Levitt Pavilion Denver on Thursday. (Provided by Denver Arts and Venues)

So, yes, you too can perform at Levitt Pavilion Denver this summer.

The venue will also bring an unprecedented amount of free concerts to its bill: Thirty of its scheduled 35 shows won’t cost you a dime. That includes Thursday’s grand opening concert with Denver alt-rock band Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams, and Andy Thomas’ Dust Heart.

It’s an especially busy night for Thomas. The venue’s associate director and the first act to officially grace its stage, Thomas will take on the stresses inherent to both organizer and performer in the hours leading up to the venue’s inaugural show, sound-checking his own set from the stage and then tending to the headliners from the booth.

Thomas, who’s been playing music in Denver for the past 14 years, looks at the evening as a testament to his and the staff’s commitment to the local music scene. That he’ll be opening for Slim Cessna, a band he’s followed for years, is “icing on the cake.”

As an independently booked venue, Levitt isn’t beholden to any one promoter’s bank of artists, which means it will host artists from a wide range of backgrounds. This summer’s season features hip-hop (Colorado Springs’ The Reminders), American roots (Whiskey Shivers) and, partially in a nod to Ruby Hill’s largely Hispanic demographic, a six-concert Latin concert series. From singer-songwriter Ceci Bastida to Mexican ska act Inspector, that lineup is as eclectic as the venue’s programming-at-large.

A rendering of the Denver Levitt Pavilion. The venue is the seventh — and biggest — Levitt Pavilion in the country. (Provided by Chris Zacher)

The pay-to-enter concerts kick off on Friday, with a double bill: pop reggae group UB40, the musical sommelier that turned its cover of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine” into a bonafide hit in the early ’80s, rapper Matisyahu and Raging Fiyah. (Tickets are $25-$75.)

Speaking of wine, the festival’s BYOB advertising actually stands for “bring your own blanket” — there will be beer on sale at the venue ($7 for a 12-ounce craft brew; $12 for a 24-ounce) and a regular rotation of food trucks for concerts. Thursday’s show features four: Pavy’s, Wong Way Veg, Cheesus and Ba-Nom-A-Nom.

Check out the venue’s entire schedule below. Can’t decide what to catch at the venue’s inaugural schedule? Levitt Pavilion Denver’s production director Chase Wessel’s picks for can’t-miss shows are in bold.

July 20: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club with Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams and Andy Thomas’ Dust Heart
July 21:  UB40 with Matiyahu and Raging Fiyah*
July 23 The Stone Foxes with The Outfit
July 27: Whiskey Shivers with Garrett Lebeau and RL Cole
July 29: Euforquestra with We’s Us
July 30: Making Movies with Jyemo Club (First Bank Presents)
August 3: The Suffers with The Other Black
August 4: John Fullbright with The Drunken Hearts
August 5: The Reminders with Fed Rez
August 6: Rocky Dawuni with Bunny Gang
August 9: Hippo Campus with Slow Caves and Corsicana
August 10 Dustbowl Revival with Charley Crockett
August 11: 311 with New Politics*
August 13 Band of Heathens with Blake Brown & American Dust Choir
August 17: Haunted Windchimes with Edison
August 18: My Body Sings Electric with Chemistry Club
August 19: Smooth Hound Smith with Anthony Ruptak & Midnight Friends
August 24: Gaby Moreno with Vanessa Zamora (First Bank Presents)
August 25: Mariachi Sol de Mi Tierra with Fiesta Colorado Dance Company (First Bank
Presents)
August 26: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe
August 26: Beer Festival*
August 27: New Breed Brass Band with Denver Municipal Band
August 30: Ripe with Chris Daniels & the Kings with Freddi Gowdy
August 31: Inspector with Izcalli (First Bank Presents)
Sept. 2: Chali 2na with Reason the Citizen and Povi
Sept. 3: Cumbia Festival, featuring Tropa Vallenata, Tropical Kaoba, Chavos Dun Dun and more
(First Bank Presents)
Sept. 8: Pandas & People with Chimney Choir
Sept. 9: Jonathan Tyler with School of Rock
Sept. 10: Humming House with Treehouse Sanctum
Sept. 16: Mexican Independence Day Celebration with Ceci Bastida and special guests (First
Bank Presents)
Sept. 17: Katastro with Mouse Power and Forgotten Roots
Sept. 21: SHEL with Megan Burtt
Sept. 23: Dragondeer with Strange Americans
Sept. 22: Josh Abbott*
Oct. 6: Cody Johnson with TBA co-headliner*

* = ticketed event
Bold =  recommended show