Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers will invade the Twin Cities next weekend.

The L/A Balloon Festival kicks off Friday, Aug. 15, with a Star Wars theme at Simard-Payne Memorial Park along the Androscoggin River. The annual three-day festival concludes Sunday with the sixth and final balloon launch scheduled for 6 p.m.

Organizers are calling this year’s festival “The Rise of the Balloons.”

The festival is expected to feature 18 balloons, including four specialty ones. Keeping with the theme, Yoda will join Darth Vader. The other two will by Spider Pig and a butterfly-shaped balloon.

The Darth Vader and Yoda balloons, based in Belgium, last visited the festival in 2016.

“This year’s theme, ‘The Rise of the Balloons,’ is an out-of-this-world experience for hot-air balloon lovers, cosplay enthusiasts, and families seeking an unforgettable weekend of fun, flight and fandom,” according to a news release from festival organizers.

Balloon launches will take placed at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day, weather permitting. Festival committee member Mell Hamlyn said visitors can still purchase balloon rides. To book a ride, which costs $300 per person, email Hamlyn at [email protected] or visit the event website at laballoonfest.org.

“I think we’ll have great weather,” predicted Cathy McDonald, one of the festival organizers.

The festival will also feature tethered rides following each launch, Hamlyn said, that will allow visitors to float 30-50 feet above the festival while tied to the ground.

McDonald, who is in charge of the food vendors and the entertainment, said the festival grounds will be full of family-friendly activities for all three days, including Stormtroopers and an artisan/makers fair. A medieval tent run by the Society for Creative Anachronism will feature an immersive history of 16th-century life.

A carnival of amusement rides will take place on Lincoln Street near the Station Grille.

Pups in the Air will perform Saturday and Sunday. The Massachusetts-based group features disc dogs and other canines performing tricks and stunts.

The balloon festival parade starts Saturday at 10 a.m. in New Auburn. The parade will cross the Bernard Lown Peace Bridge and continue to the festival grounds.

A variety of musicians will entertain guests throughout the festival. Friday’s music headliner will be Traveller, a Chris Stapleton tribute band. The seven-piece band is scheduled to perform from 7:30-10 p.m. The main show Saturday night will be the ever-popular Motor Booty Affair, who will follow local guitarist Denny Breau on the main stage at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday’s featured performer is Taylor Hughes, a New Hampshire country singer, who will take the stage at 4 p.m. before the final balloon launch.

A pancake breakfast, run by John F. Murphy Homes, will be held Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In conjunction with the balloon festival on Saturday will be Blues, Brews and Cruise, a classic car show in Auburn’s Festival Plaza from noon to 5 p.m. The event features music, food trucks and craft beers.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 122 Ash St. from noon to 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Transportation will be provided to the basilica and back.

Last year, for the first time since the festival began in 1992, the event was in doubt for a time after the organizers from the previous Great Falls Balloon Festival announced they were canceling it due to lack of funding and support.

City leaders from Lewiston and Auburn stepped in and worked through the spring and summer to make sure the Twin Cities would not be without a balloon festival.

In the aftermath of the event, those organizers said the festival was a success despite a tight window for gaining sponsorships and putting together other logistics. A financial report issued by Lewiston in the fall revealed that the effort turned a profit of nearly $25,000 after raising about $100,000 in sponsorships. It also raised about $76,000 for nonprofit vendors.

Nate Libby, Lewiston’s economic development director and the festival’s administrator, said having a full year to plan will make this year’s festival stronger in a number of ways including new features such as the tethered balloon rides that add a balloon element to the middle of the day, a bigger parade, and more recruitment and training of volunteers to make the experience better for participants and balloonists.

In addition to the balloons of course, Libby said organizers are also excited about popular local band Motor Booty Affair again appearing at the festival. “That was a highlight I think for a lot of us. It felt like the crowd at Simard-Payne Park (last year) was 5, 6, 7,000 — we didn’t do a count — but it felt like a really unique memorable event. It’s not often that we have a free concert in downtown Lewiston that draws that kind of crowd.”