The 28th Annual Spiedie Fest is underway in Binghamton. Thousands of people came out to enjoy the first day of the big event. Our Elyse Mickalonis tells us what this year's festival has to offer and what makes this year truly special.

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BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. -- Warm weather, great food and music kicked off the 28th annual Spiedie Fest on Friday afternoon. Spiedie venders say they’ll go through lots of chicken this weekend.

“I think maybe 3,000 pounds of chicken, another couple thousand pounds of sausage and pork,” said Stephen Lupo, Lupo’s Spiedies Co-owner.

Spiedie lovers say each recipe is unique, adding to one of the biggest events in the Southern Tier.

“They’ve got a great taste, all different flavors: Chicken, beef and lamb,” said Rudy Hessler, an Endicott resident.

Endicott resident Cole Hessler added, “If you haven’t had it before, you should try it, because it’s good.”

The hot air balloons also drew a big crowd at Otsiningo Park. County officials and organizers say this year’s festival is a reminder of how hard people worked to bounce back from last year’s storms.

"This year was pretty special because as we're standing here we are thinking back to September. There was ten feet of water, mud, the park was devastated. All our departments came to and got it ready, so we're here,” said Broome County Executive Debbie Preston.

Organizers used an American Flag hot air balloon to dedicate opening ceremonies to the first responders who helped out during last year’s flooding.

“We brought that in to put it up to honor the first responders and we also gave them a beautiful picture for their walls with a picture of the balloon. Also we were handing out flags tonight,” said Preston.

Spiedie Fest will continue through Sunday with big name musicians, a spiedie cook-off and more fun both nights.