POINT PLEASANT — Gotta Regatta — that will be the phrase heard by many as the Point Pleasant Sternwheel Regatta officially kicks off on Thursday, July 1.

The patriotic celebration is a community wide event that features activities for the entire family. The three-day festival also provides entertainment from both local and nationally known entertainers.

Regatta Chairman Jacob Hill encouraged families to come enjoy this year’s event.

“The (festival) committee is very excited about this year’s event. Everyone has put in a lot of work,” Hill said. “We have added more family events with gospel evening and bluegrass.”

In fact, the Gospel Sing will jump start this year’s festival at 6 p.m. this evening. The sing will take place at the Point Pleasant Riverfront Park main stage, and will feature the groups Victory River Quartet, Sacrifice of Praise and Romans Highway. Also taking place at 6 p.m. will be the cornhole tournament at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park. Two-person teams may register to compete in the tournament, and winning teams will receive cash and prizes.

The annual Regatta Queen Pageant also is slated to begin at 6 p.m. tonight. The pageant will take place at the State Theatre, located on Main St. Seven young ladies are set to compete for this year’s queen title. Once selected, the pageant winner will get to reign over the festival. Additional activities set to take place this evening include a rock band performance and teen karaoke at 8 p.m. The local band, All of the Above, also will perform on the Tu-Endie-Wei State Park stage at 9 p.m.

Friday’s Regatta schedule will be just as jam-packed with the pet contest kicking things off at 5 p.m. at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park. Also taking place at Tu-Endie-Wei will be the Showboat Pretty Baby Contest, slated to start at 6 p.m. The River Princess Pageant, which will be emceed by the newly crowned Regatta Queen, is set for 6 p.m. at the State Theatre. At riverfront park, the WBYG 99.5 Colgate Country Showdown will get under way at 6 p.m. The Teen Dance Off, slated for 8 p.m., and a performance by Midnight Special at 9 p.m. will close out Friday’s activities.

Saturday will be the festival’s busiest day as several events are scheduled. The PVH 5k River Run will get the day off to an early start at 8:30 a.m., with race registration slated for 7:30 a.m. The Regatta Parade will follow at 11 a.m. The rest of the day will be action-packed with Kids’ Day Activities from noon-5 p.m.; Cruise-In-Car Show at noon; Teen Cornhole Tournament at 1 p.m.; Pickin’ In the Park Bluegrass from 1:30-5 p.m.; Line Throw Contest at 2 p.m.; Teen 3-Legged Race at 4 p.m.; Teen Sack Races at 5 p.m.; Teen Hula Hoop Contest at 6 p.m.; and a Crashing Jericho performance at 6:30 p.m.

This year’s Regatta headline performer, David Nail, will take to the riverfront park main stage at 8 p.m. Following Nail’s performance, will be the firework display. The Rockin’ Reggie event, slated to take place directly after the firework show on Main Street, will wrap up this year’s festival.

For more information on the 2010 Point Pleasant Sternwheel Regatta, visit the Web site, www.pointpleasantregatta.org.