MILWAUKEE - The 8th annual Ghost Ships Festival will be held Friday, March 23, 3:00 - 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 24, 8:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton across from the Milwaukee airport. Advance tickets are $20 and day-of tickets are $25. To purchase a ticket or for more information, visit ghostships.org or send an email to [email protected]. Those interested in hotel accommodations can contact the Sheraton at (414) 481-8000 and ask for the Ghost Ships room discount.

This year's Festival will feature 13 new wrecks discovered in the Great Lakes, as well as nationally recognized presenters, including:

• Richie Kohler & John Chatterton, hosts of The History Channel's "Deep Sea Detectives" television series, Friday, March 23, 7 p.m. - Each week this pair of experienced divers investigates underwater mysteries, using modern technology to examine what happened and possibly discover new answers. Recent episodes have explored the mystery of Loch Ness, a forgotten WWII submarine and the USS Meredith, a sunken D-Day destroyer.

The pair will take Ghost Ship attendees to Greece for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a History Channel documentary on the Britannic, the Titanic's sister ship. To film the wreck, the team had to build their own technical dive fill station, turn an 80' fishing vessel into an offshore dive platform and then make 400' dives in the middle of a busy shipping channel.

Kohler and Chatterton will be available for autographs and questions a few hours in advance of their presentation.

• Ric Mixter, diver and documentary producer, Saturday, March 24, 5 p.m. - Mixter is an experienced diver who has written, produced and hosted more than 30 programs on the Great Lakes for PBS. His newest documentary, "Cutter Rescues," which will be shown at the festival, profiles the most famous Coast Guard cutters to serve on the Great Lakes. The piece features the construction, launch and first rescues of the Escanaba, along with interviews from the men who were saved by the cutter.

In addition to the presenters detailed above, the two-day festival will feature a variety of other experts, films, documentaries and sessions on Great Lakes history and shipwrecks. Guest speakers include:

• David Trotter - Trotter is a renowned shipwreck discoverer, deep diver, author and photographer. During his 20-year career, Trotter has been the first to locate, identify and document more than 60 Great Lakes shipwrecks. Trotter will present 2 programs - one will focus on two new shipwreck discoveries in Lake Huron and the other presentation will tell the story of the first military biplane to be located in Lake Huron, as well as the discovery and exploration of the steamer Arctic.

• Frederick Stonehouse - Stonehouse has authored nearly 30 books on Great Lakes maritime history. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Great Lakes Lighthouse Tales are regional best sellers. Stonehouse will regale attendees with "ghost" stories of lost mariners, cursed ships, haunted vessels and other legends of the deep.

• Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA) - MSRA was formed in 2001, shortly after the discovery of the wreck of the H.C. Akeley. The non-profit organization's mission is to research, search, discover and document shipwrecks in the Great Lakes and create related educational programs. MSRA will present four new wrecks, including the surprising discovery of the Ann Arbor No. 5, a Great Lakes car ferry, and the sinking of the Hennepin, the world's first self-unloader. The Ann Arbor No. 5 was found during a joint expedition between MSRA and author Clive Cussler's National Underwater Marine Agency to find the wreck of Northwest Airlines flight 2501, a DC-4 that crashed into Lake Michigan in 1950. While the search for the plane was unsuccessful, the Ann Arbor No. 5 was a surprise discovery and an interesting mystery.

• Ken Merryman - Merryman has been an avid shipwreck diver for more than 30 years and has been involved in the discovery and documentation of nine significant wrecks. His presentation at the Ghost Ships Festival will focus on the discovery of the schooner Moonlight and freighter Marquette - two ships that went down in 1902 and were located by Merryman and his team more than 100 years later.

• Brendon Baillod - Baillod is an avid Great Lakes marine historian and scuba diver who has been conducting original research on Great Lakes shipwrecks for nearly 20 years. Baillod will focus on the Griffon shipwreck, which has yet to be found, and is one of the oldest shipwrecks, dating to 1679.

• Richard Bennett - Bennett has spent 53 years in the scuba and commercial diving industry and has dedicated many of those years searching for the Poverty Island treasure. Bennett's presentation will discuss the $400 million in gold that's believed to have been dumped in Lake Michigan near Poverty Island in 1864 in an attempt to elude pirates who were eager to steal the gold.

• Steve Radovan - Radovan is a PADI dive master and past board member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. Radovan will explore the shipwreck of the Gallinipper, a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1851.

• Jerry Guyer - Guyer is an experienced captain who is dedicated to searching Lake Michigan for shipwrecks using sonar equipment. His presentation will feature four new shipwrecks that were recently discovered.

• Keith Meverden - Meverden is a nautical archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society. He'll share his work documenting the wreck of the Rouse Simmons, better known as the Christmas tree ship. In 2006, the Wisconsin Historical Society conducted the first formal survey of the wreck site for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The dive team found the wreck in remarkably intact condition, providing new clues as to what happened during the vessel's final moments.

• Michael Angelo Gagliardi - Gagliardi is an artist and diver who participated in the 2002 USS Monitor expedition to raise the ship's gun turret. His presentation will cover his drawings of wrecks and dive experiences.

Ghost Ships Festival Background
The Ghost Ships Festival brings together top Great Lakes maritime historians, authors and divers from throughout the country. It's an opportunity for the public to learn more about the maritime history of the world's largest inland lakes and see the wrecks that now lay below the surface. The festival includes films, workshops and seminars devoted to shipwrecks, diving and maritime history.

The Ghost Ships Festival is hosted by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation, Inc. (GLSRF, Inc.). GLSRF, Inc. is a non-profit group dedicated to creating public awareness of the Great Lakes maritime heritage and promoting conservation, study and responsible enjoyment of historic Great Lakes shipwrecks by divers and non-divers. Proceeds from the Ghost Ships Festival support GLSRF, Inc. and the GLSRF, Inc. grant program.