Posts Tagged ‘WV Bridge Day’

Bridge Day Highlights

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

A massive structure like the New River Gorge Bridge deserves a massive festival, and Bridge Day

New River Gorge Bridge - Ed Goody Photography

does not disappoint. From the 450 BASE jumpers to the 200+ vendors to the 300 or so rappellers, this southern West Virginia festival goes big in every category.  It was even planned to take advantage of the 100 different colors of peak fall foliage.  It’s no wonder more than 80,000 people show up to enjoy this fall favorite.

The New River Gorge is world-renowned for its beauty and plethora of outdoor adventures. Bridge Day is just the icing on this wonderful cake, adding some extra frosting via rappelling, high lining and BASE jumping. These are some of the activities going on for the adventure-seeking crowd; below is a list of activities for other Bridge Day visitors.

* Try the Local Cuisine – The Taste of Bridge Day is a local fundraiser and takes place at Adventures on the Gorge on Friday, October 14.  Come out and experience some of the area’s best food from local restaurants and caterers.

* Bridge Day Car Show – If you have a special ride or you’re just a motorhead, this display of automobiles is worth taking in. Located right off Rt. 19 at the Quality Inn, it goes on from 10 am to 4 pm.
* Whitewater Rafting – Want to enjoy a view of the bridge, see some jumpers and have a little adventure of your own?  Book a Lower New River rafting trip and enjoy both.
* Downtown Fayetteville – Don’t forget that Fayetteville offers a bunch of Bridge Day activities too. From the pancake breakfast at the American Legion at 6am to the Chili and Cornbread Cookoff, live music and Cornhole Tournament going on from 1pm until 6pm, Fayetteville is a great stop after your day on the Bridge winds down.

If you’re here for Bridge Day and curious as to what else may be going on, just find yourself a local and ask. You’ll get the lowdown on all the other great activities that may be happening.

No matter what you do, just enjoy the beauty of southern West Virginia in the fall.  It is one of the best times to be here.

Can’t Miss Fall Festivals

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Streets lined with food.  Beer gardens.  Celebrations 876 ft in the air.  These are what West Virginia festivals are made of and over the next two weekends there are lots of lip-smacking events to

Rappeller w/ US & WV State Flags/ Bridge Day

choose from.  Here are some insider tips on what’s new with these can’t miss fall festivals:

* Taste Of Our Towns (TOOT) Festival – Lewisburg.  Saturday, October 9.  The event staff has told us this will be the largest TOOT yet – with 18 additional food vendors lining the street of this historic town. New food finds will include Stella’s, a tea house coming soon and two additional wineries.

* Bramwell’s Oktoberfest – Bramwell.  Saturday, October 9 – This year’s event features 11 bands to set the stage for this fun event.  Your $18 ticket (or $20 at the door) includes all the live entertainment and all the beer tastings you can hold until they run out.  Some additional food vendors and artists have also been added.

* Bridge Day – Fayetteville.  October 15-16 – Friday October 15th from 5-9 pm is Taste of Bridge Day @ Smokey’s on The Gorge and on Saturday the 16th is the 31st annual Bride Day Festival – the only day it’s legal to walk across the New River Gorge Bridge.

Don’t miss the new Hometown Subaru Down Under Tour.  With a ticket, you can be taken down below to watch the BASE jumpers and rappellers riverside.  And the tour comes with lunch!

Plan now to be among the tens of thousands of festival goers that will transcend on the Mountain State in search of great fall celebrations.  Where are you spending your weekend?

What No One Knows About Bridge Day

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Bridge Day Zipline

Bridge Day Zipline

Bridge Day.

Around here, those are some big words.  Everyone knows that Bridge Day is the largest festival in West Virginia.  We also know that it has to be seen to be believed.  It’s a spectacle.

That much, we can all agree on.  Bridge Day is about as cool as it gets.  But there are always other rumors, and questions, and misunderstandings about what’s going on from year to year.

So, we’re here to tell you, with this blog post, some of those little Bridge Day secrets that will make you the authority when it comes to info on the big day.  We’ve put together a group of facts, trivia, and logistical info for you to jump into (get it?  oosh- sorry)  before Bridge Day arrives.

No need to thank us :-)

1.   Bridge Day sells more funnel cake per capita than any other festival in the country.  Actually, we’re just basing that on our own love of funnel cake.  Don’t quote us on that one.

2.     Jumpers have to qualify for the lottery to get a pass to jump It’s first-come, first-served until all 450 slots are gone and they always sell out.  There’s always a ton of confusion about this one from us, the un-jumping public, on this one.  They have to have 140 100 skydive jumps before getting a ticket for the bridge.  Once they get their spot, they can jump as many times as they like from open to close. For more information for B.A.S.E. jumpers, visit http://www.bridgeday.info.

3.     Bridge Day 2009 is on Saturday, October 17.  Okay, not so secret.

4.     Taste Of Bridge Day, the eating party with all the restaurants from the New River Gorge cooking their best dishes, is on Friday night before the big day.  This party is in contention with Bridge Day itself for best event of the weekend.

5.      The First Annual Bridge Day Chili Cookoff will start just after the festivities on the bridge end on Saturday, and has one of the greatest slogans of any chili cookoff ever.  Ready for it?  “Jumping.  Beans.”  Get it?  Awesome.

6.      Bridge Day is as much about rappelling as it is about jumping.  The ropes hanging off of the bridge on Bridge Day are from 750 to 800 feet long.  There’s also a zipline hanging off the bridge that’s open to the public, if you can believe that.  You should, because it’s true.

7.    The Bridge Day website has every single piece of information about bridge day ever released.  If you have any questions about the event, click on over there to check it out.

8.     All of your photos, videos, and comments can be shared with the entire world (and definitely the Bridgeday audience) by tagging them with #bridgeday when you upload to Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, or Twitter.  You can then check out everything that everyone has said about the festival by going to the social media newsroom at Bridge Day social media newsroom

9.     All of the New River Gorge rafting outfitters have Bridge Day specials.  It’s one thing to go to a festival like this one, but it’s another thing entirely to show up via whitewater raft.

10.     No bungee jumping.

Questions?  We’d love to answer them.  Get in touch with us, and we can help plan your Bridge Day this year.  Otherwise, see you on the Bridge!