Following is your guide to the Belfast Harbor Fest taking place this weekend, Friday, Aug. 15 through Sunday, Aug. 17.

Music and fun starts Friday, Aug. 15 at the Launch Party!

Come to the Launch Party Celebration sponsored by 3 Tides & Marshall's Wharf under the tent. Tap your toes and clap your hands to the musicians who will perform in the Steamboat Landing Gazebo all day on Saturday, Aug. 16.

Vendors will serve up a variety of local food and drink.

5K Road Race and Pancake Breakfast

Start on Friday night at the Launch Party celebration, then nosh your way through the events on Saturday and finish with the Lobster served for Sunday lunch by Habitat for Humanity.

Double-knot your sneakers for the 5th Annual Bug Run 5K on Saturday! Everyone is welcome to join, from those looking to run a personal best to families wanting to share a healthy run/walk.

The run starts at Union and Miller Streets in Belfast, at 8:30 a.m. This is a beautiful route that winds through shaded neighborhoods and along the waterfront in spectacular Belfast. There are prizes for top male and female runners in each of seven age brackets, and the overall male and female winners get 20 pounds of live lobster ("bugs").

The registration fee is $20, with all runners receiving a ticket for the Belfast Harbor Fest blueberry pancake breakfast.

One can purchase t-shirts on race-day.

Register online at Active.com or print and e-mail a paper registration form to rotary.belfast.runs@gmail.com. Participants also can register the morning of the race at the parking lot at Union and Miller Streets in Belfast from 7:30 a.m. to 08:15 a.m.

From 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. the Rotary Club will be serving blueberry pancakes and sausage for $5, per person. Breakfast will be served buffet style and you can eat inside the Boathouse or take your plate outside and enjoy the festival and Penobscot Bay.

Bug Run 5K participants have the blueberry pancake breakfast included with their entry fee.

2014 Cardboard Boat Challenge

Saturday, Aug. 16 and Sunday, Aug. 17 at Steamboat Park:

Challenge your family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, competitors, and other businesses or organizations to design and enter a cardboard boat in the Belfast Harbor Fest Cardboard Boat Challenge! Get your team spirit going and just have fun. 

• Saturday, 2 p.m. - Boats arrive for display and judging 
• Sunday, 9 a.m. - Officials meet with participants & crew followed by Boat Parade to starting point.
• Sunday, 10 a.m. - Race begins followed by award ceremony

Show off your personal watercraft

Whether an amateur or professional boat builder, bring your boat and display it for Belfast Harbor Fest visitors to see. Kayak, canoe, skiff, sail boat, launches - if it fits on a small trailer or on top of a car - all kinds of classic small boats are welcome on Saturday, Aug. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Fun for Kids! 

There is fun for the whole family at the Belfast Harbor Fest!

The Belfast Harbor Fest Kids area includes such activities as making rope, a rope bridge for kids to climb, decorating and racing your own sailboat in the gutter race, face painting, bounce house, crafts, and much much more.

The National Boatbuilding Challenge is returning to Belfast on Saturday sponsored by the Belfast Rotary Club. Boat building begins at 9:30 a.m. and the relay race begins at 3 p.m

Teams have been comprised of professional boatbuilders, amateur boatbuilders, and mostly never-before boatbuilders. We have had brothers, brothers-in-law, spouses, father-daughter, professional colleagues, neighbors, uncle-nephew, and cousins compete. Some have finished, many have not.

The competition was a huge success in Belfast in 2007, 2008, and 2010 to 2013. It has been held in South Carolina for the past 22 years.

The challenge involves two-person teams building a 12-foot wooden skiff in under four hours, followed by a rowing relay race. Teams are judged on how quickly they complete construction, the quality of the craftsmanship and their speed on the water in the two-man relay rowing race.

Cheer on the Belfast Come Boating! teams as they compete with regional teams in the Belfast Harbor at Steamboat Landing on Saturday.

For more information, log onto www.belfastharborfest.com.