Annual Bradenton Area River Regatta, boats race down Manatee River

BRADENTON, Fla. - Boats will be racing down the Manatee River this weekend at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour legally.

It’s part of the free ninth annual Bradenton Area River Regatta that starts Friday.

It kicks off at 7:15 p.m. with a drone light show that’s opening the weekend this year instead of closing it.

READ: Sarasota man becomes Florida State Fair favorite serving Amish donuts and pretzels

"This regatta was so good to begin with, but we were finding that a lot of people were leaving after the boat races on Saturday night and the fireworks were great, but they were very sparce," Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said about the change.

A concert by a Fleetwood Mac tribute band will follow the light show.

Bradenton and Palmetto team up to host the festivities, including a fishing derby, family fun zones, concerts and more, on both sides of the river every year.

"It’s a whole community that has to come together to make this work," Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant said. "If both of us weren't working on it, there wouldn't be any place for the other side and for all the visitors to be able to view the races and so forth," she said.

The Regatta is the largest inland powerboat race in North America. It draws more than 100,000 people and millions of dollars for Manatee County.

"The monies used [to put on the event] are from the tourists that come here," Elliott Falcione, Executive Director of Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. "So, in a nutshell, there's $200,000 of Manatee County government tourism tax into this event … and when you invest 200,000 and your return is about 10 million, that’s not a bad ROI," Falcione said.

READ: Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville largest of its kind in southeast

Local leaders say they hope the Regatta continues to put Manatee County on the map.

"From the standpoint of getting Bradenton and the urban core really developed and with Palmetto because, again, how Bradenton and Palmetto are going to go in the future is going to be what we do to give activities, events and still grow, you know, more walkable, livable downtowns and that's what's important and this really helps to highlight that," Brown said.

The time trials kick off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the qualifying heats at 1 p.m. and the championship races start at 4 p.m.