CARLSBAD — North County’s premiere alternative classical music festival — Carlsbad Music Fest — is back for its seventh year, and this time, with a new component to experience.

Sept. 24 marks the start of the annual weekendlong event that includes a number of concerts from world-class and cutting-edge musicians. Performances will be held at intimate locations in Carlsbad’s Village and at the Dove Library’s Schulman Auditorium.

“There’s two different ways to experience music and I think they’re both really exciting formats,” said Matt McBane, festival founder, composer and musician. “You can be spontaneous about what you want to hear.”

For the first time, McBane has included an evening Village Music Walk that will kick off the event. Performances are a suggested donation of $5 and will be held at Spin Records, New Village Arts’ Foundry and the Ivanffy-Uhler Gallery.

Percussionists will start the night at 5:45 p.m. with a performance at State Street and Grand Avenue. Half-hour sets will follow at each location by Red Fish Blue Fish, Calder Quartet, ACME and others throughout the evening.

“The idea is that everyone is going to have a different concert experience because they can choose different things to go to,” McBane said. “But between those sets, they’ll get a percussion performance and everything will be synchronized.”

The festival will continue on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 with formal concert performances at the Dove Library’s Schulman Auditorium. They are ticketed events and will feature sets and pre-performance talks by pianist Eric Huebner, the Calder Quartet and ACME.

This year’s Carlsbad Music Festival features the fifth annual composer composition, which has drawn international attention.

More than 100 original compositions were entered into this year’s contest.

Kate Moore, an Australian composer, was ultimately selected to commission a piece that will be performed over the weekend, McBane said.

Local musicians, especially those in middle and high school music classes, also benefit from having world-class pianists and string quartets performing in Carlsbad. Performers do outreach sets to inspire and educate aspiring musicians as part of the festival circuit.

“Those are always great, because they are small performances and there’s a good connection between the students and musicians,” McBane said.

McBane first started the event in 2004 with grant money from the city. He now produces the annual event in partnership with Carlsbad’s Cultural Arts Festival, the Museum of Making Music and the UCSD’s ArtPower!