A two-day commemoration event kicks off Friday morning in Estevan as the community honours 21 people who lost their lives in a plane crash almost 80 years ago.

The accident happened on Sept. 15, 1946 just south of town, in what is now the Boundary Dam area.

Beginning Friday morning at 9:30, military historian Craig Bird will be giving a presentation at the Estevan Legion. This will be followed by a fly by in the downtown area.

On Saturday, there will be a memorial dedication at the crash site. 

You can check out the full schedule here.

"It's been a longtime in the works here for it, so there's been quite a few people in the planning stages," Bird said. "We've done lots on our museum web page and we also put up banners around town that'll be up here until the end of August, commemorating all of the men that lost their lives in that air crash."

Bird said he's unsure of how many people will attend, but he knows people are travelling from around the world to take part and pay their respects, including relatives of the victims.

"We're hoping that we get a large turnout for it," Bird said. "We know we have some people coming from all over Canada and overseas as well from what I understand. But we have a lot of people coming from Regina, Saskatoon, and the surrounding area as well. So it'll be interesting to see how many people come out."