The first Bridge Day was held on November 8, 1980. During the inaugural event, two people parachuted from a plane onto the bridge, and 5,500 people walked across it. This year’s festival, scheduled for Saturday, October 15.
Read on to find out some significant numbers related to Bridge Day. (Based on 2019)
- Nearly 100,000
That’s the average number of spectators that attend Bridge Day each year. Some years, it’s been closer to 100,000. When we say a lot of people come to the festival, we mean it!
- 876
This is the height of the bridge (in feet). In other words, it’s how high BASE jumpers and rappellers descend into the gorge, and how high you’ll be when walking across to watch all the action.
- 790
The approximate number of BASE jumps that take place over the six hours that the bridge is closed to traffic. Fun fact: in 2019, 303 jumpers from 41 states participated in Bridge Day.
- 300
How many people typically rappel from the catwalk of the bridge during Bridge Day. Rappellers are divided into teams – in 2019 we saw 910 rappells.
- 200
The number of vendors that set up during Bridge Day, which includes everyone from concessions and crafters to CVBs and nonprofit organizations.