FOLEY, Ala. - Balloons are ready to fly as Father's Day Weekend approaches.

The seventh annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival is scheduled for this weekend at the Foley Sportspark located on U.S. 98, with 45 balloonists planned to participate in this year's event. The festival will begin early Friday morning and continue through Sunday morning around 10:30 a.m., Lori Crace, South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce director of events, said.

The event begins Friday morning with a Media Flight event at 5:30 a.m. at the Tanger Outlet Center. Pilots will be interviewed and will attend the pre-flight meeting to determine flight paths. Media also will be able to ride in a balloon depending on weather and wind.

The event, which is hosted by the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, will feature a number of balloon competitions and non-balloon activities for attendants.

The balloons will fly and glow when winds are under 10 mph and there are no storms threatening the area, the festival Website states. The balloons will not fly during the middle of the day due to air restrictions. The balloons probably will be visible in the early morning around 6 a.m. and in the early evening around 7 p.m., the Website states.

There will be pilot competitions throughout the festival. Pilots will launch their balloons from around three miles form the festival area on Saturday and Sunday mornings and toss a beanbag onto a large "X" on the festival grounds. On Friday and Saturday evenings, pilots will drop a tennis ball from their balloons in hopes of it landing in a child's pool without bouncing out of the pool. The winner of the competition will receive $1,000.

"The competitions are the morning flights. The [pilots get together and have a meeting in the morning and go over like wind speed and wind direction," Lori Crace, director of events for the South Baldwin Chamber, said.

There also will be balloon glows from 7-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday with balloons on display while not flying and other balloons flying in while the flame lights up the aircraft to create the glow.

There will be a frisbee dog show, which will showcase rescue dogs performing athletic tricks and stunts for the audience.

"(The dogs) go all over the world and catch the frisbee and do athletic flips in the air," Crace said. "They've been coming for a number of years. They are very popular."

The festival will feature musical entertainment with a talent competition, titled "Rising Stars" talent show, at the Outlet Center at 10 a.m. Friday for ages 16 and under and at 10 a.m. Saturday for adults. The contest is only for vocalists, with an entry fee of $25 and prizes of $200, $100 and $50 for first place, second place and third place in both the junior and adult divisions. Pre-registration is required to compete.

Almost McGraw, a Tim McGraw tribute act, will perform Saturday evening. Arts and crafts will be available at the event, with items ranging from fine arts to jewelry. A children's village will include inflatables, and food will be available at the event. Visitor parking at the festival is $5 per vehicle, and departure and re-entry will be an additional $5 per vehicle. There will be free shuttle service running Friday and Saturday from 9-10 a.m. The pick-up points are: Heritage Park; Foley Elementary School; and Tanger Outlet Center.

Private balloon flights are not sold during the festival. Festival volunteers still are needed for the weekend-long event. To sign-up as a volunteer, email the crew leader at wlawrence@bcbe.com. For more information on the event, visit www.gulfcoastballoonfestival.com or call (251) 943-3291.

There are 45 balloonists from 12 different states, Crace said, and two of the balloonists hail from Baldwin County.