NATCHEZ &045;&045; Once again, October skies will fill with colorful hot-air balloons as Natchez hosts the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, Oct. 15 to 17.

The event gets under way with an early Friday morning flight to give media representatives an opportunity to fly with or act as crew for the dozens of balloonists who will take part in the race.

One of the most popular events, the balloon glow, will begin about 7 p.m. at the Rosalie Bicentennial Gardens on the grounds of the historic house Rosalie, with entrance on Broadway Street.

The Rosalie gardens will be the site of all the festival activities, which on Saturday include children’s carnival rides, games, entertainment and food.

Balloon liftoffs, in addition to the early Friday flight, are expected to take place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.

&uot;The balloons will lift off from sites that are determined by the wind direction at race time,&uot; said Laura Godfrey, executive director of the balloon race. &uot;Both the Natchez and the Vidalia, La., sides of the river offer really good viewing spots. People can tune in to radio station 95.1 WQNZ-FM to find out where the liftoffs will take place.&uot;

Tickets to the festival area are available at the gate or may be purchased ahead of time at the Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St.; at the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, 211 Main St., Suite A; or at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, 640 Canal St. More information is available by calling 800-647-6724 or 601-446-6345.

Admission to the festival for adults is $5 for Friday, $15 for Saturday, $5 for Sunday or $20 for a weekend pass. Admission for children is $1 for Friday, $3 for Saturday, $3 for Sunday or $5 for a weekend pass. Children under 6 are admitted free.

Major sponsors of the balloon race are Isle of Capri Casino & Hotel, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Herring Gas Company. Co-sponsors are Centennial Wireless, United Mississippi Bank and Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce. Media sponsors are LoveComm Advertising Sales, 95.1 WQNZ-FM and 97.3 KISS-FM.

Headlining the musical entertainment will be Natchez’s own Maggie Brown, accompanied by The Chris LeBlanc Band. Brown’s new album is getting good reviews and is catching the attention of DJs around the country.

Better Than Ezra, a modern rock smash sensation with albums consistently on the Top 20 charts and Billboard awards for Top 100 pop songs, will perform for the first time at the festival.

Other groups include the popular Rockin’ Dopsie & The Zydeco Twisters, known around the world as the premier band of zydeco. Their music is a blend of Cajun-Acadian music with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and blues; and ZuZu Mud, with a tribute to ZZ Top, Louisiana’s version of the famous Texas band, the brainchild of the popular New Orleans musician-songwriter Brint Anderson.

Wet Willie, featuring Jimmy Hall, is a famous 1970s band. One of their Top 10 hits is &uot;Keep on Smiling.&uot; Grooveline, featuring LLJuna, with sounds of blues, MoTown, disco, pop and rhythm and blues, also will perform.

Rock for Real Soul Revue stars Larry Raspberry, lead singer with The Gentrys and songwriter for Carly Simon, Jimmy Buffet and the Everly Brothers. Fingers Taylor, Eddie Floyd and Jean Knight also will star with the Soul Revue.

The Andy Smith Band, international performers who have shared the stage with Aaron Neville, Leon Russell, Starship and B.B. King, will play for the festival Dance on Saturday.