Today's events in Preakness Celebration '98, Maryland's weeklong festival building up to the Preakness Stakes race tomorrow:

Sunrise at Old Hilltop. 6-9 a.m. Guided tours of Pimlico Race Course's stable area and backstretch from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Details: 410-542-9400. Free.

Phillips Preakness Celebrity Crab Picking Contest. Local celebrities compete to see who can pick the most crabmeat in three minutes. Noon, Harborplace Amphitheater. Details: 1-800-HARBOR-1. Free.

Great Schooner Race. Watch from the Inner Harbor promenade as tall ships race to and from Fort McHenry from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Free.

Preakness Pub. Jockeys from Pimlico Race Course tend bar for charity 5-8 p.m. at The Orioles Bar in the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. Free admission; drink prices vary.

Bud Light Nights. The Colt 104.3 presents Transfuzion as part of concert series on Water Street. 5 p.m. $3 admission; 21 and over only.

For more information and to confirm times, call 410-837-3030.

Pub Date: 5/15/98