Crews turned the Adams County Christian Playground into a field of color as they started the first official race of the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race Saturday.

One by one, balloons lifted high into the north Natchez sky. Slowly they drifted across the Natchez landscape, passing by the First Baptist Church and then to the grounds of the antebellum house Melrose.

As they flew by, pilots threw their bean bags to the target area, hoping to start the weekend off with a big score.