Fishermen's Festival.

Ayuh. Just the mention of this annual event gives rise to tales of competitions past, complete with good natured ribbing and boasting and a bit of off color roasting.

The competitions begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 24 with the Miss Shrimp Princess Pageant. The event will be held at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor where five young ladies, ages 9-12, will compete for what frequent emcee Andrew Morley has called, “the most coveted title on the peninsula.”

Plan to get there early as most of the town turns out to cheer the girls on. Tickets are $5/adults and $2/kids.

Reigning Miss Shrimp Princess Ciara Pitcher will make her last royal appearance as both performer and presenter.

Post pageant, local establishments like McSeagull's, Mine Oyster and Mr. C's will have musical entertainment for the over-21 crowd.

Come 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, the competitions begin with the Cod Fish Relay Races for high school, and Small Fry races for elementary school, aged teams. First up will be the high school — four-person teams will take turns donning foul weather gear and tucking a cod fish under each arm before taking off at break neck speed along the course. First team with all players back wins.

It's hard to know which is funnier: the expressions on the faces of the contestants or the spectators!

Bait shoveling commences immediately after. A barrel of bait is emptied onto Commercial Street to be removed and placed in another container. Will last year's champion Mark Carter return to retain his winning title?

At 9:30 a.m. it's time for the Lobster Crate Races. Contestants — young and um, mature — demonstrate their agility running across the tops of seaweed-filled lobster crates strung together between a docks and a boat stern. Last year's races got quite exciting: three competitors each ran 320 crates, requiring a second heat to determine the winner; 2014's overall champ was Rowan Kristan.

Come 10:15 a.m., it'll be time to rev up those lobster boat engines for the trap hauling competition. The Carter family has been winning this event for many a year. In 2014, with a time of 2:49, Matt Carter and Nick Page won the event aboard All Out.

Boat captains and their sternmen race to their boats, untie the vessels and head out to the inner harbor to bait traps then race back to their starting positions. Can't you hear the shouting, whooping, hollering and clapping now?

Make way ladies, gents, and kids for the Tug of War starting at 11 a.m on Commercial Street. Teams vie for championship status. Here's another event where the facial expressions of contestant and spectator are pictures worth a thousand ... laughs? Will it be a slow pull or a brief one? Will Yereance & Son return to brag another year? And, when it comes to bragging rights, how about that Sea Pier Women's Team? When have they not won? History has demonstrated this team will return to defend its title!

The youngins (third and fourth graders) will take to the street next for some pulls of their own. Last year there was a seventh and eighth grade pull as well!

After all this activity, everyone is powerful hungry.

Luckily the fish fry is being served up inside at Mine Oyster on Pier 1 — $5 a sandwich till they're gone — all proceeds to benefit Fishermen’s Memorial Fund. Satisfy your hunger while listening to tunes by Dave and Chris Gagne.

Mine Oyster is the venue for the two hour oyster shucking competition beginning at 1 p.m. in the raw bar. There will be different categories for competition and everyone that enters gets a prize. And, here's something special for oyster lovers to savor: three oysters paired with three wines for $10.

And, come nightfall, local establishments will have musicians tuning up for music and dancing. At press time, The Dyer Neck Gang was booked to rock Mr. C's on Townsend Avenue and Gang of Thieves at Mine Oyster. Watch for complete music listings next week.

The final day of Fishermen's Festival, Sunday, April 26 starts with the annual trip to Burnt Island Light Station aboard the Novelty at 12:30 p.m. Passengers depart from Pier 8 for a tour of the island with interpretors and solo. Any unsold tickets will be available at the pier.

Island visitors may return to the mainland, or stay on board the Novelty for the Blessing of the Fleet.

At 1:30 p.m. the community pays tribute to the fishermen who have lost their lives at sea in a most moving memorial service; a bell tolls as each of the names are read (by local area clergy), at the Fishermen’s Memorial on Atlantic Avenue.

The Blessing of the Fleet follows the memorial service around 2:15 p.m. Fishing boats pass by local clergy at Boothbay Harbor Fish Pier, and circle the inner harbor. Look for the newly crowned Shrimp Princess on the lead boat, her final duty of the weekend.

Head to Herringbone’s on Pier 1 after the blessing for some post-festival fun beginning at 4 p.m.

Yes, the roots of many a great tale can be traced to Fishermen's Festival weekend.

Beloved by locals, Fishermen's Festival is the celebration of our region's fishing and lobstering heritage; of our sense of community, to welcome spring and set our sights on the new season ahead — and exercise those bragging rights whenever the mood strikes!

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.boothbayregister.com.