32nd Annual Bridge Day Festival – October 15, 2011

Celebrating its 32nd anniversary, Bridge Day offers plenty of thrills on the New River Gorge Bridge on Oct. 15. The event is regarded as West Virginia's largest one-day event and the largest extreme sports event in the world. Activities include BASE jumping, rappelling and zipping 700 feet down the high line – a rope attached to the bridge's catwalk – to the Fayette Station Roadbelow. Around 400 BASE jumpers participate each year. Estimates have as many as 100,000 people attending the overall event. There is no charge for spectators to attend the festival.

The New River Gorge Bridge is the second longest single arch bridge in the world and is the second-highest bridge in the United States. It sits 876 feet above the New River, the second-oldest river in the world.

Bridge Day is celebrated each year in Fayetteville, W.Va., and sponsored by the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, commemorating the 1977 completion of the New River Gorge Bridge. On this day, all four lanes of the bridge are closed to automobiles and opened to pedestrians. Bridge Day is the only day of the year people are allowed to BASE jump off the bridge into the New River Gorge 876 feet (267 meters) below. It is one of the few exceptions to a general ban on BASE jumping within the National Park System of the United States.

The "Taste of Bridge Day" event kicks off the weekend on Friday, Oct. 16, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Smokey's On the Gorge restaurant. Area restaurants will present their tastiest dishes for the public to sample, with awards for best foods, desserts and displays. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

For more specific Bridge Day information, please contact the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce or the New River Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-927-0263, or visit the official Bridge Day Web site at officialbridgeday.com.