LEWISTON – Every cost of this weekend’s 15th annual Great Falls Balloon Festival – from the performer’s fees to the light bill to the gas in the grand marshal’s convertible – is already covered before the first souvenir T-shirt sells.

It makes festival President John Davis proud.

“A hurricane could hit, and the festival would still come back next year,” Davis said Monday. “There was a period five or six years ago when the festival ran in the red. Not anymore.” Income to the festival is reinvested into it. Besides having the funds needed to cover all costs, the festival has purchased several new tents, which will be used at the main launch site: Simard-Payne Park, formerly Railroad Park in Lewiston.

Davis wants the balloons to hang around for generations.

“People think it’s corny, but I’d like my grandchildren to go to the 25th festival or the 50th,” he said.

Only eight years ago, the balloon festival was the last of three big summertime celebrations in Lewiston-Auburn. But while the balloon festival grew stronger, the others foundered.

In 1999, the Liberty Festival lasted for three days at the start of July. But it fell into the red and organizers were forced to shrink into a smaller, one-day event.

And in August 2005, the Festival de Joie ended its 13-year run when the work overwhelmed its aging, volunteer force. The Festival FrancoFun has worked to fill some of the gap, but at a smaller scale.

“We’ve been growing stronger for years,” Davis said. Sponsorships typically sell out. So do the food booths, which last year made about $48,000.

And last year’s event was cut short by rain, which forced all of Sunday’s events to be canceled.

Still, an estimated 118,000 people attended.

Part of that success is owed to continuing efforts to improve each day’s schedule of events, filling the gap between the 6 a.m. launch and the 6 p.m. launch.

Those launches are spectacular, but the balloons cannot fly for the majority of each day, Davis said. There are musical acts and contests and lots of food.

One thing Davis has always wished for was an opening ceremony or parade for the festival. This year, he got it.

Local groups such as the Franco-American Veterans and the Shriners will headline the festival’s first parade, which will run from Auburn into Lewiston on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.

The Shriners will be riding their mini NASCAR-style cars. Meanwhile, the Vertical Outlaws, a motorcycle stunt team, will have a display float on a flatbed.

The aim is to help boost their audience for a pair of shows Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., said Tracey Steuber, Auburn’s community relations manager and the lead organizer of the inaugural parade.

“I think it’s a really good start,” she said.

Also new to the festival this year will be a skydiving act.

Skydive New England plans to bring two planes with 10 jumpers, who plan to create a formation over Simard-Payne Park and a precision landing. The event is planned for Saturday at 3 p.m.

But the balloon launches are the main attraction, though.

If the weather cooperates, they’ll be met with a slow-but-steady breeze

“We don’t want dead air,” Davis said. “The balloons don’t go far. On the other hand, you don’t want too much wind or the balloons go up and they’re gone.

So Davis and the rest of the hundreds of volunteers will be watching the weather, hoping for sunny days with gentle breezes.

And if the bad weather comes, they’ll manage.

“We don’t cancel a flight until we’re out of time,” he said.