This June, Cordele celebrates its claim as the "Watermelon Capitol of the World" with the 70th Annual Watermelon Days Festival.
Ben Drennan, the “Balloonmeister” of the event, looks forward to bringing his family to the watermelon festival every year.
This year, he is celebrating by flying high above it.
Drennan, along with 25 other pilots, are participating in the hot air balloon festival. It is just one of the events happening over the weekend to celebrate the "Watermelon capitol of the world."
“It's a great chance to walk around with your family. It's definitely an Instagram-worthy moment,” Drennan said.
Drennan said they are expecting more than 5,000 people throughout the weekend and he says hotels are already sold out.
But farmers in the area say it isn't always easy to keep up with the popular crop.
Walt Harpe, a Cordele farmer, says his farm grows around 10 million pounds of watermelon every season, but some years are better than others.
“You don't know what the outcome is going to be, so some years outweigh the others. It's like a rollercoaster ride -- you just gotta hold on,” said Harpe.
He says the fruit starts in a greenhouse before it is moved out to the fields in March, until it is time to harvest them in June.
He says it takes a lot of faith and hard work to grow these watermelons, but he enjoys doing it.
The events this weekend include a parade Saturday at 8:30 p.m. starting on 15th Avenue, and the hot air balloon festival goes through Sunday morning at Georgia Veterans State Park.
“It's a good community event. It brings a lot of people out, gives everybody something to do,” said Harpe.
And of course, there will be watermelon.