It’s that time of year again… Bridge Day 2023 is only 65 days away and the biggest base jumping event is better than ever.
If you’ve never been — it’s an unreal moment in time one has to experience firsthand. The Bridge Day Commission met today at Fayetteville Town Hall to gear up for the event.
“Something we do every month to try to keep everybody on the same page ’cause there’s a whole lot of moving parts to Bridge Day between law enforcement, our medical teams, the Bridge Day 5K people,” said Tim Naylor, executive assistant, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, New River Gorge CVB, Bridge Day.
The whole city, state of West Virginia and beyond descend on New River Gorge in Fayetteville to catch all the daredevils.
“We close down the highway for that day and people just get to get out and experience the beautiful scenery and (more than 200) vendors and (200-300) base jumpers and seeing old friends and family,” Naylor said.
Bridge Day was always a big part of Tim’s childhood and he calls it exciting that it’s still going strong after 44 years. Not to mention all the blood, sweat and tears to bring it to fruition every year.
“We work here pretty much from January 1st until the day before getting everything lined up and getting everything in order,” he said.
More than 100 law enforcement do their part at Bridge Day to ensure everyone stays safe and healthy.
“Between the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, the West Virginia State Police, all the way up to FBI and Homeland Security,” Naylor said.
Then there are the emergency medical technicians who take care of all the injuries and anything that might happen.
“And River Rescue takes care of the base jumpers should they land in the water,” said the executive assistant. “And then just us here in this office putting together the vendors, getting them all lined up — as well as getting the base jumpers ready. So there’s a whole lot of people involved.”
It’s a free event (9am to 3pm), but Tim says you always want to bring cash for food and any other purchases.
“You have shuttle parking spots so instead of parking on the roadway and walking all the way to the bridge, you can park at one of our shuttle locations, catch a shuttle for $5 cash and those will bring you right to the entry of the event,” said Naylor.
It’s where you want to be on October 21… Bridge Day is raw, real and unbelievable!
“Where people come for family reunions, ya know — just to see old friends they went to school with. People from all over the world are gonna be here,” Naylor said.
