LEWISTON — With the Dempsey Challenge just days away, we know the question burning in a lot of local minds.

Here’s the answer to that question, and the rest of what you need to know.

Will Patrick Dempsey be there?

“Yes!” says Katelynn Hartt, communications director for the Dempsey Center. “He will be in attendance at our Friday ‘Night of Love and Light’ event and will be joining us on a route on Saturday.”

That puts the beloved actor at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester on Friday night, and here in Lewiston for the start of the Challenge on Saturday.

What’s new this year?

Mostly, the run, walk and cycling event to benefit those impacted by cancer will be perfectly familiar to those who have participated before.

But there are a few changes this year as the Challenge, started in 2009, continues to evolve.

For one thing, the course will look a little bit different from previous years because all new routes have been established.

“For folks who have been taking on the challenge for a while, they will notice that routes are — for the most part — moving in the opposite direction,” Hartt said. “Last year we added a gravel ride and this year we are excited to add in a second, longer gravel distance. They are on hard packed gravel.”

Besides long-distance biking, what else is going on?

The routes may look different, but they will be no less grueling: 5K walk and run and 10K run; in addition to 25, 50 and 65 miles for bicycling and 30- and 55-mile routes for gravel riders.

And as always, organizers say, there will be plenty to do for non-long-distance athletes, as well.

“We have events for all ages,” Hartt said. “In addition to our run, walk, and ride events, we also have events for kids in the park, a Kids Fun Run and a Bike Rodeo, put on by the Bike Coalition of Maine.”

How does it help?

The Dempsey Challenge raises money for the Dempsey Center, founded by the actor in 2008. The Dempsey Center provides wellness services to cancer patients at no cost to them. Some of those services include counseling, support groups, and nutrition and fitness classes.

This year’s fundraising goal of $1.9 million was 86% completed nearly a week before the Challenge begins, according to Hartt.

What has Patrick Dempsey been up to?

The always popular Challenge gets extra buzz when Patrick Dempsey comes to town. This year, he’s taking a break from a hectic schedule of filming in Toronto for his television crime drama “Memory of a Killer,” which premiered on Fox at the beginning of the year.

In the show, Dempsey portrays a contract killer and family man struggling to keep those two lives separate.

And while he’s doing that, Dempsey continues to advocate for early detection and supportive care services for people impacted by cancer.

As part of that, Dempsey is starring in a multimillion-dollar national advertising campaign from Guardant Health urging Americans to get screened for colorectal cancer.

The ad series started last week. According to Guardant Health, the campaign “pays tribute to people lost to the disease while highlighting the importance of early screening and new options, including the FDA-approved Shield blood test.”

When is it all happening?

The Challenge kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Friday with A Night of Love + Light, a celebration of the year’s top fundraisers, at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester.

The remaining events are centered in Lewiston.

On Saturday, the day begins at 7 a.m. with opening remarks at the start stage on Oxford Street. The various bicycle marathons begin soon after.

The festival in Simard-Payne Memorial Park begins at 8 a.m. with the walk and run marathons beginning about the same time.

A Kids’ Fun Run gets underway at 11 a.m. on Oxford Street while the Kids’ Bike Rodeo takes place in the Maine MILL parking lot on Beech Street between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

An Honor Walk past the event photo wall is scheduled for 2 p.m. to be followed by the closing of the event at 2:15 p.m.