Bridge Day

For 'bridge day' as the unofficial holiday on long weekends, see four-day weekend.
BASE jumpers jumping off the bridge
BASE jumpers landing
Crowds enjoying the festivities
BASE jumpers shoot out of a catapult
Base jumper in wheelchair
Base jumpers and repellers

Bridge Day is an annual one-day festival in Fayetteville, Fayette County, West Virginia, United States[1] The event is coordinated by the New River Gorge Bridge Day Commission, and is sponsored by numerous companies of both local and international significance.[2] The event, held on the third Saturday every October, commemorates the 1977 completion of the New River Gorge Bridge.[3] On this day, all four lanes of the bridge are closed to automobiles and opened to pedestrians. Estimates have 100,000 people attending the overall event.[3]

The first Bridge Day was held in 1980 and drew a crowd of roughly 40,000. It has been held every year since except for those years: 2001, when it was cancelled because of recent events of 9/11 and the possibility of terrorist attacks; it was also cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

  1. ^ Green, Diana Kyle (October 2011). "Fayette County High". Wonderful West Virginia: 4–7.
  2. ^ "Archived Document". Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2012-10-01."Official Bridge Day website sponsorship page, ret. 2012-10-01
  3. ^ a b Sullivan 82