Bridge Day planning gathers steam

Yahoo

18-03-2025

The inexorable march to Bridge Day 2025 continues.
This year's Bridge Day is scheduled in Fayette County on Saturday, Oct. 18.
While a variety of behind-the-scenes preparations has been ongoing since late last fall to clear the launch for the 2025 event, the first meeting of the Bridge Day Commission (BDC) for 2025 will be held on Wednesday, March 19 at 1:30 p.m. at Fayetteville Town Hall.
The commission is mandated by the West Virginia Legislature to supervise the activities of the annual festival.
The Wednesday agenda will feature a review of old business left over from the 2024 event.
New business will include:
• A review of the Bridge Day Commission, both voting and non-voting positions;
• A review and decision on BDC representatives, both appointed and advisory terms. That includes West Virginia Division of Highways, West Virginia State Police, rappel advisory, National Park Service advisory, BASE advisory, vendor/community advisory and emergency services advisory;
• Report from BDC representatives: a. Fayette County Chamber of Commerce; b. WV DOH; c. Fayette County Commission; d. WVSP; e. Fayette County Sheriff; f. Town of Fayetteville; g. Advisory representatives — rappel, NPS, BASE, vendor, emergency services an regional tourism; and
• Setting the 2025 meeting calendar.
To join the meeting via Zoom, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81530933528?pwd=kGTtrckbaCn95m4LIQi9bQqT4Zaxff.1
Meeting ID is 815 3093 3528. Passcode is 784983.
Bridge Day is an official trademark of the Bridge Day Commission.
• • •
If you've always wanted to ride down into the New River Gorge to watch Bridge Day unfold and have been too late in recent years to snag a ticket for the Into the Gorge shuttles, you're not too late this year.
Annually, motoring traffic into the gorge to the Fayette Station rapids at the bottom on that day is limited to event or emergency vehicles. That officially leaves biking or pedestrian traffic as the other options to watch the BASE jumpers and rappellers from down below, except for those who plan ahead and pay to take the shuttle.
So, don't tarry if you want to secure a seat on one of the shuttle buses on Oct. 18.
As of March 17, 177 of the 500 available Into the Gorge tickets had been sold, according to Tim Naylor, executive assistant for the New River Gorge CVB/Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.
'Those will sell out,' Naylor stressed.
The current cost per ticket is $40, which will go up to $50 after July 1.
Bridge Day vendor spots are going even faster than shuttle tickets, according to Naylor.
Annually, companies and organizations offer a variety of merchandise and information to members of the public visiting the bridge.
A 'handful' of vendor positions for 2025 remain, said Naylor. 'They've gone a lot quicker than they have in the past.'
Naylor reiterates rules from the W.Va. Fire Marshal's Office that any source of open flame or generated heat has to be located at least 15 feet away from anything else at the vendor booth.
For Fayette County Chamber of Commerce members, vendor booth fees are $125 plus a $15 application fee.
For non-members, the fee is $225 plus the non-refundable $15 application fee.
Those prices will rise after July 1, if spots are still available.
Sponsorship opportunities for the 2025 event also still exist.
The annual Bridge Day poster contest, a popular feature of the event, will kick off in mid-spring.
It is sponsored by Lost Appalachian Trading Company, with a cash prize.
For more information on Bridge Day or its various tentacles, call 1-304-465-5617 or 1-800-927-0263 or visit www.officialbridgeday.com.
Email: [e-mail]; follow on Facebook