NATCHEZ &8212; Visitors and Natchez residents flocked to hear bands play and to see fireworks and tethered hot air balloons light up the sky at the balloon glow Friday night.

About 10 balloons lined the bluff, and others flickered along the Vidalia Riverfront.

Keith and Faye Harper drove from Shreveport to see the event for the first time.

&8220;We do a lot of festivals in Shreveport, but this is the best we&8217;ve been to in years,&8221; Keith Harper said. &8220;It&8217;s so nice &8212; the riverfront, the grounds, the balloons and the people.&8221;

Jennifer Maxwell and her two sons, Troy and Logan, flew in from Denver to see friends.

&8220;The balloons are why we picked this weekend,&8221; Maxwell said. &8220;It&8217;s a beautiful town.&8221;

Jonathan Wisner and Erin King came from Jackson and joined their mother, Ren/e Wisner, a Natchez resident, at the balloon race.

Both Wisner and King grew up in Natchez and said they love to get together with friends and family at the races.

&8220;I&8217;ve been coming here ever since the first one,&8221; Ren/e Wisner said. &8220;We come for all of it.&8221;

Larry Johansson, originally from Natchez, drove from Arkansas for the balloon race.

&8220;We come every year to see friends and my son and grandson,&8221; he said.

Both sides of the Mississippi River twinkled with glowing balloons.

&8220;It looks like a whole bunch of big light bulbs along the river,&8221; said Sam Edwards, pilot of the Texas Twist.

From Houston, Edwards flies

his balloon all over the world, he said. He has flown in the Miss-Lou race for the past 13 years and won first prize overall last year.

&8220;We&8217;ve had the same local crew here every year but one,&8221; he said.

Friday morning&8217;s fun flight was canceled because of unfriendly weather conditions, officials said.

&8220;The cloud cover did not move out as quickly as we hoped it would,&8221; event coordinator Sally Durkin said. &8220;The winds would have shifted in mid-flight if we had gone any later. For safety reasons, we decided to scrub the flight.&8221;

Saturday morning&8217;s flight has a better chance of favorable weather, Durkin said.

&8220;It&8217;s not as iffy,&8221; she said. &8220;It looks better than it did (Friday).&8221;

Strong winds and low clouds can pose problems for pilots in navigation and landing.