Set in Austrias Hohe Tauern mountains, it spread across a valley and climbed up two vertiginous hillsides.

Last July, I finally set out to see it for myself.

Beginning with the Celts in the fourth century B.C., it was a gold-mining area.

Pair of photos from Haus Hirt hotel in Austria, one showing views from the hotel, and one showing the pool

From left: The view from Haus Hirt Hotel & Spa, in Bad Gastein; the pool at the hotel.Credit:From left: Robert Kittel/Courtesy of Haus Hirt; Cathrine Stukhard/Courtesy of Haus Hirt

Royals, including Sisi, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, came to its sanatoriums to take the waters.

The town was going bankrupt, and it was a disaster, Evelyn Ikrath told me.

But sometimes, if the right seeds are planted, beautiful things can grow.

Pair of photos from an art even in Austria, one showing crowds at an opening, and one showing the event curator and her assistant with artwork

From left: Opening night at sommer.frische.kunst; Andrea von Goetz, the curator of sommer.frische.kunst, and her assistant, Jonah Kittelmann, with artwork by Andi Fischer.Courtesy of Sommer.Frische.Kunst

In 2011, von Goetz and the group also startedsommer.frische.kunst(summer.fresh.art.

), an artist-residency program at Kraftwerk.

The walk is meant as a sort of treasure hunt or pilgrimage, Evelyn Ikrath told me.

Pair of photos from Bad Gastein, Austria, one showing a sitting area in a hotel and one showing a waterfall in the town

From left: A sitting area at the Cōmodo hotel; the waterfall in Bad Gastein.From left: Courtesy of Design Hotels; Getty Images

You could spend several days hiking to find them.

The walking tour and the fair made the art scene feel playful and interactive.

Gisela Clement, who owns a women-artist-focused gallery in Bonn, Germany, told me something similar.

A wooden sculpture in a forest

Harfen, a sculpture by Olaf Holzapfel, as seen on walking tour around Bad Gastein, Austria.Florian Kolmer/Courtesy of Sommer Frische Kunst

All the other big art fairs have gotten so commercial, she said.

This feels intimate and authentic.

Back in town, I popped in to galleries showcasing up-and-coming artists.

A printed image emerged, which was rolled up into a Bic Cristal pen and made into a necklace.

If done right, the community could build a mountain city ready for the future, she said.