POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. - The countdown is on.

Literally.

In fact, a timer at www.mothmanlives.com is slowly ticking off the seconds until the start of the fifth annual Mothman Festival in downtown Point Pleasant, and in 22 days, the red-eyed creature will make his much-anticipated return to the area.

A tentative schedule of events has been set for the festival, which features free admission throughout the two-day fanfare slated for Sept. 16 and 17.

Events will kick off that Saturday with the mayor's welcome at 10 a.m. at the riverfront park amphitheater, followed by Chad Lambert, Mothman comic book creator and writer, at 11 a.m. and Ralph Turner, a Herald-Dispatch field reporter in 1966, at 11:30 a.m.

Other featured speakers include Newell Partridge, owner of Bandit in John Keel's Mothman Prophecies, at noon; Robin Bellamy, writer and paranormal investigator, 1 p.m.; Susan Sheppard, ghost hunter and author, 2 p.m.; Rosemary Guiley, author, 3 p.m.; prodigy group/Carol McCormick and David Mahan, ghost hunters, 4 p.m.; and Ghostly Talk talkshow hosts and investigators, 4:30 p.m.

At 8 p.m. that day, hayride tours of the TNT area will begin at the West Virginia State Farm Museum. According to the Web site, tickets will be on sale all day Saturday at the information table in front of the Mothman Statue at Gunn Park and at the farm museum during the hayrides. The ticket sales are designed to let riders pick the time they would like to ride. Tour groups will depart every 15 minutes, with 20-25 riders being designated for each of the wagons.

The second day of the festival also will feature guest speakers Robin Bellamy at 1 p.m.; Dave Peyton, a former Herald-Dispatch writer who covered UFOs in the region, at 2 p.m.; and prodigy group/Carol McCormick and David Mahan at 3 p.m.

Other events will be ongoing throughout the festival, including meet-and-greets with Donnie Sergent Jr., a local author and contributor to www.mothmanlives.com, performances by the Mothman Band from noon-4 p.m. on the first day of the festival, and viewing of Mothman, UFO and paranormal clips and presentations at the State Theatre beginning at noon both days.

Downloadable and printable schedules of events, a map of downtown and a map of the area, including the TNT area where the haunted hayrides take place, also are available online.

More information and an updated schedule of events can be found on the Web site.