If you’re reading this in the morning, you might want to check outside for balloons. While Thursday was overcast and gloomy, Great Mississippi River Balloon Race organizers were expecting pleasant, sunny weather today and throughout the weekend &045;&045; perfect weather for ballooning.

&uot;We’re going to have sunshine, it’s going to be cool and the winds are supposed to be light,&uot; balloon race Chairman Laura Godfrey said. &uot;It’s going to be great. This is what we needed.&uot;

At least 10 new pilots are joining the colorful caravan that will take to the skies this weekend for the annual race, during which balloonists take aim at targets on barges in the river &045;&045; a task unique to Natchez’s ballooning events.

Also new this year are a children’s carnival to benefit the Natchez Children’s Home and a &uot;cluster balloon&uot; &045;&045; a man who flies not in one large hot-air balloon but harnessed to a cluster of smaller balloons.

Godfrey said she is looking forward to old and new events &045;&045; but mostly to the main benefit of balloon race weekend, the single biggest weekend tourist event of the year.

&uot;I’m looking forward to the fact that our community is going to be full, our hotels and restaurants are going to be filled with people,&uot; she said. &uot;That’s the main point.&uot;

And Godfrey and other race organizers are ready to welcome their friends &045;&045; the pilots &045;&045; back for another year. Many of the pilots have been back year after year.

&uot;They’re family,&uot; Godfrey said.

There will be four main flights this weekend: a media flight this morning and competitive flights on Saturday and Sunday mornings and Saturday afternoon.

Sponsors who will be working with the balloon crews need to be at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center at 6:30 a.m. each day, Godfrey said.

But balloon flights are not the only event for spectators. Music, children’s activities and food will fill the weekend.

The rock group Better Than Ezra and Natchez native Maggie Brown &045;&045; who has a new album out &045;&045; are among the biggest musical acts performing at the balloon race festival, which takes place on the grounds of Rosalie.

Meanwhile, vendors will be selling such goodies as hamburgers, jambalaya, gumbo, catfish, funnel cakes and cotton candy.