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The festival officially begins today with a "Bucket of Buds Maritime Kick-off Celebration" at Smalley's starting at 7 p.m. Customers can get a bucket of five Budweisers for just $10. Aside from the drinks, their will be free drawings, T-shirts and prizes given away.

On Thursday a couple of new events lead the way as from 6-8 p.m. their will be Bocce Ball, while 6 p.m. until midnight there will be a "one-night only" Entertainment Tent. Thumb Cellular and AVCI.net present the entertainment under the big top, which will include Geoff Ferris, a Tribute to the Blues Brothers and Nathan Schock.

Admission to the event is $3, but if you purchase your Maritime Festival button for $5, admission to this and all other events over the weekend are free. You will also be able to take advantage of special savings by local merchants who will be offering discounts on their merchandise to button holders.

From 7-11 p.m. there will be one more new event on Thursday, as the Ladies Auxiliary will be hosting bingo at the Legion Hall.

On Friday, H & R Block/Honda Aquatrax will be sponsoring the seventh annual "Invitational," which will allow teams of local riders to compete on the same course as the pros who will compete on Saturday and Sunday. Each year over 100 local riders compete in the race and this year will be more of the same. The top racers by time, will get a chance to compete for cash prizes on Saturday in the Invitational Championship Race.

The all day racing action starts at 12 p.m. and continues until 8 p.m., which is when the Dirty Americans return for their second straight year to rock the beach. Rolling Stone writer Gary Graff called the band, "They're a gritty, down and dirty Michigan rock band."

On Saturday the racing action continues with the Thumb Watercross Challenge, as well Can-Am Cup qualifying races. At 5:30 p.m. the main event begins, as the Budweiser/Novi Can-Am Cup pits the top racers from neighboring countries in four races that will decide, which country is the dominant one.

Racers to look out for this year include Canada's Conrad Cole who has won the Junior Ski Class the past two years, while the US's Justin Haverkate has won back-to-back R/A 1200 championships. Canada's Jay Edworthy has won four championships since 2003, with 2006 being the only year he didn't win a title.

"This is the Nascar of the water," Maritime Festival committee member Al Kleinknecht said. "Pretty much everyone out there racing is kind of extreme in one way or another."

Other events on Saturday include the Harbor Beach Hospital Walk/Run; a two day softball tournament on Bruce Johnson Fields, which is sponsored by the Lions Club; Dean and Darrell's Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament; Cruise Night from 6-7 p.m. and a free concert on the beach by the Sinclairs, following the Can-Am Cup.

On Sunday, national racing action finishes up and the Can-Am Cup awards will be held, while the K of C Maritime Festival Car Show will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other events include "Dueling Pianos" under the tent ($3 admission or free with a Maritime Festival button), Co-Ed "Dig It" Volleyball and the raffle drawing where someone can win a Harley, a jet-ski, a four wheeler or $2,500 in cash.