Visitors and residents of Maryland could be forgiven if, in the days ahead of the Preakness Stakes, they had little idea the event was happening. In recent years, the historic spectacle has lacked the energy and attendance of decades past, when Preakness earned the moniker of the “people’s race.”

A new effort, coinciding with a state-financed injection of $400 million into thoroughbred racing, seeks to invigorate the second leg of the Triple Crown — beginning with next year, its 150th edition.

Ahead of the two-minute race will be weeks of programming, said Terry Hasseltine, the president of the Sport & Entertainment Corp. of Maryland (a nonprofit leg of the Maryland Sports Commission). In the run-up to the third Saturday in May, there will be a dozen gatherings across the state, including four “tentpole” events in the Baltimore region, that will hope to draw several thousand people each.

Two of those are expected to be in Baltimore: a potential concert at Pier Six Pavilion featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra alongside another musical act, Hasseltine said, and a “family-friendly opportunity” in Park Heights. The other two main events are anticipated to be in counties immediately surrounding Baltimore. Details of the plans, though, are in flux.

The effort beckons to years past, when a flurry of activity set the stage for Preakness, which regularly attracted more than 100,000 fans to Pimlico. Next year’s festival will seek to start a new, annual tradition.

The state, the city and private entities will each contribute $1 million to the festival, creating a budget of $3 million.

That will fund 2025 events. The city and state might again contribute money next year, Hasseltine said, but the goal is for the festival to be sustainable, such that sponsorships and generated revenues will eventually pay for it.

“We’re trying to create a model, using 150 as a way to catalyze future growth and opportunity,” Hasseltine said. “So we’re putting together a sustainable budget that will get us the celebration that we need for 150 but knowing that we have to get to 151 and into 152 when the state takes over.”

The state’s $1 million contribution comes from a pot of money created by a 2022 law meant to attract major events to Maryland. Other events, such as soccer matches at M&T Bank Stadium and the Maryland 5 Star equestrian event in Cecil County, have received money from the fund.

The 150th Preakness is expected — as long as plans continue as projected — to be the final one at historic Pimlico, the decrepit facility that has desperately awaited renovations for decades. Shortly after the conclusion of the race in May, demolition and then construction will begin, with the new venue projected to be finished in time for the 2027 Preakness. The race will be held at Laurel Park in 2026.

In addition to the Pimlico rebuild, state funds will be used to construct a training track elsewhere in the state as day-to-day racing is centered at Pimlico. Laurel Park will eventually cease to exist as a racetrack.

Gov. Wes Moore, first lady Dawn Moore, Mayor Brandon Scott and Orioles owner David Rubenstein were among those who spoke during a celebratory reception Wednesday afternoon at the Camden Yards’ B&O Warehouse to announce and launch the festival.

Part of the genesis for the festival came from a visit the Moores took to the Kentucky Derby, the first jewel of the Triple Crown, two years ago, which “absolutely amazed” Dawn Moore.

“I mean, you could really feel the Kentucky pride, and I walked away very, very inspired like, the state of Maryland could do something of our own and, honestly, we could do it better,” she said.

Special events dot the calendar in Kentucky more than two weeks ahead of the Derby, and a bevy of events complement major sporting spectacles such as all-star games and the Super Bowl. Though it’s hard to imagine Preakness matching those, speakers at Wednesday’s event spoke assertively of the festival’s future.

“I’ve never been to Kentucky. I don’t really plan on going,” Scott said. “But I can assure you that Kentucky has nothing on the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.”

The economic impact of Preakness pales in comparison to the Derby’s, said Christian Johansson, chair of Stella May Contracting and a co-chair of the Preakness festival committee, but Preakness can take a page out of the Derby’s playbook. Plus, Preakness has the support of the fastest horse of all time, at least according to Rubenstein.

“Secretariat said to me in an email today,” Rubenstein joked, “’Please don’t tell the people of the Belmont Stakes or at the Kentucky Derby, but I always liked the Preakness the best. I’m looking forward to the 150th, provided no one breaks my record.’”

Johansson said the aspiration is to transform how the state celebrates Preakness for “generations to come.”

“We don’t just have to rebuild physical infrastructure. We have to reenergize civic pride and engagement in the Preakness,” he said.

Joining Johansson, Dawn Moore and Rubenstein on the festival’s five-person steering committee are Belinda Stronach, the chair of The Stronach Group (which has operated racing in the state and will continue to operate Preakness for the next two years), and Michael Hankin, president and CEO of Brown Advisory.

Hasseltine will help run the festival. The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, created last year to oversee racing in the state, decided during a July board meeting to partner with the Sport & Entertainment Corp. on the festival.

The intent, Hasseltine said, is to bring events from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, ensuring “that our arms go around the entirety of the state.”

In recent years, roughly 60,000 to 65,000 have combined to attend the Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness Stakes on Friday and Saturday — roughly one-third of the attendance for both events in 2019. Part of the smaller crowd is by design, the Stronach Group has said, calling it an “intentional choice to reduce the footprint.” But the company has tried to bring crowds back since the height of the pandemic, having local music executive Kevin Liles curate concerts as part of Preakness Live! and the AfroPreak Lounge with music and food.

Pimlico, though, has been losing its luster for decades. Peeling paint, plumbing issues and inoperable elevators have become staples as plans to revamp Old Hilltop started and stopped. But, in spite of impending budget constraints, the state legislature in 2024 allocated $400 million in bonds to support racing in the state, with the bulk of that going to rebuild Pimlico.

The new plan calls for a state-created nonprofit to operate racing, rather than the Stronach Group. Equipped with a new venue beginning in 2027, the goal is to return Preakness to its former glory, state officials have said.

“Preakness is a chance for Baltimore to show off,” Wes Moore said Wednesday. “And that’s exactly what’s gonna happen on Preakness 150.”

Each of the next three years will offer a unique Preakness: 2025 will be its final at the current Pimlico; 2026 will take place at Laurel Park, a swan song of sorts for the Anne Arundel County venue; and 2027 is expected to be run at a brand-new Pimlico facility.

Organizers hope the upcoming festival will have enough success to propel people to attend again in 2026, the 151st edition of the race.

“Everybody can celebrate a commemorative year; it’s easy to do that,” Hasseltine said of the 150th Preakness, “but the thing is, can you take the commemorative year and transition it so that it creates a road map?”

This story has been updated to correct a member of the Preakness festival committee.