BUCKSPORT – The seventh annual Fort Knox Bay Festival will offer some new attractions for festival-goers this year along with some old favorites from past years.

The event will kick off tonight with the Teen Talent Night, one of the new events on the roster, according to festival coordinator Lisa Whitney. Local teens have signed up in advance for the contest, Whitney said Tuesday.

“We’ve got so much talent in the area, especially these young people” she said. “People are in for such a treat.”

The show will start at 7 p.m. at the main stage on Sprague Point. There will be a $2 charge.

Saturday offers a full day of events starting with the popular 5K Fun Run. Last year, a record 163 runners turned out for the event and organizers expect to exceed that number this year. The race is being held this year as a tribute to local runner Fred Merriam, who passed away recently. Merriam’s name has been embroidered on the sleeve of the T-shirts that will be presented to the first 125 runners to register for the race, Whitney said.

Registration begins at 7 a.m. Saturday. The race starts at 8 a.m.

At 9 a.m. the Bucksport High School boy’s soccer boosters will host a blueberry pancake breakfast on the waterfront near Flag Pole Point. The group is one of a number of youth-oriented organizations that have planned fund-raising projects as part of the festival, according to Whitney.

The River City Twirlers hope to raise funds to attend the Twirl Mania competition in Florida next year. The high school Outing Club will be selling strawberry shortcakes and the high school softball program will have a food booth, with everything from crab rolls to hot dogs for sale. The high school football team will be back with its hamburger booth.

In addition, the “Girl’s Eye View” program will be trying to raise funds to offset expenses for the group trip to Gambia.

The festival parade begins at 10 a.m. with participants lining up at the International Paper Co. parking lot at 9 a.m. The parade route will run from the parking lot to Franklin Street, down Mill Street and along Main Street back to the IP lot. The Dixieland Jazz Band will perform on Main Street again before the parade.

The waterfront will be the focus for the rest of the day with vendors and demonstrations along the waterfront walkway from the town offices to the gazebo. There will be two entrances to the festivities, one at the town office building, the other at the town dock area.

This year, the Maine Maritime Academy tugboat Pentagoet will be tied up at the town dock from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and free tours of the ship will be offered. Rescue 1, a privately owned boat, also will be at the dock offering harbor tours throughout the day. The cost for the tour is $5.

The festival will again feature a Children’s Center with games, rides and demonstrations near the town dock. This year there will be free gifts given to the first 500 children to purchase tickets. Tickets are four for $1, Whitney said.

“We’ve tried very hard to keep this affordable for families,” she said.

With that idea in mind, the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the sponsors of the festival, has lowered the price for tickets to the musical entertainment, dropping the fee from $8 to $5 this year. The entertainment portion begins at 3:30 p.m. with groups performing up to 9:30 p.m. ending with headliners, The Beach Bums, a Beach Boys tribute band. Fireworks over Fort Knox will start at about 9:30 p.m.

The festival will continue on Sunday with a classic auto show at the True Value Hardware parking lot and the final performance of “The Music Man” at 2 p.m. at the Bucksport Middle School auditorium.