September 12, 2014

Celebrating The Half Century Of The Forth Road Bridge In Style

This weekend marks the end of a 10-day festival to celebrate the iconic Forth Road Bridge’s 50 years of service to the communities at both sides of the Firth of Forth.

There have been a massive variety of events taking place in celebration including:

Scotland welcomes the World to lunch – 500 people will dine from a menu created by World Class Chef and TV celebrity Nick Nairn. The menu has been created using the best quality food and drink from across Scotland.
A flotilla on the forth (Sunday) - A huge variety of crafts will travel along the stretch of water in front of North and South Queensferry, including tall ships, pleasure boats, warships, private yachts, ferries, motor-boats and canoes all celebrating 50 years of the Forth Road Bridge.
Zero to Fifty – an exhibition of the works of local artist Kate Downie who has painted the bridge from every angle.
‘Mark your Spot’ is a chance for ‘lovers’ to declare their feelings by attaching an especially designed ‘lovelock’ to one of the two panels on the bridge.
Craft and local food market.
Fireworks street party from 6:00pm on Saturday 13th September including BBQ, food and drink concessions and to keep the cold winds off the Forth out of your bones, chocolate and cocktails.
Jazz Jamboree in the beautiful, unspoiled Queensferry which will include traditional and big swing jazz as well as vocal jazz for the lovers of the genre, this is the place to be.

Saturday 13th September heralds a massive FIREWORKS DISPLAY and a Torchlit procession by 2014 torchbearers –– the torchbearers will form a line which will span the whole of the bridge, lighting it up before the fireworks display which will be fired at precisely 10:06pm (as a nod to the length of the road bridge at 1006 metres) – there will be loads to do with a huge outdoor Ceilidh and live performances from local band Big Country alongside a special performance by Bwani Junction and world-class food and drink concessions on both sides of the bridge.

If you don’t want to ‘slum it’ with everyone else, you could of course take the more gentle route and either take your loved ones to the Queensferry Grand Hotel for a massive four-course dinner overlooking the fireworks display venue or get yourselves on board the yacht ‘Inspired Capital’ to see the fireworks display from the water.

It should be quite a sight to see with the 50 years in lights on the front of the bridge and the span full of torchbearers alongside some top class pyrotechnics choreographed to music which will be viewed by an anticipated crowd of around 100,000 visitors.

Sadly, due to deterioration of the steel wires that hold the bridge in place, it is due to be replaced by the new Queensferry Crossing in 2016 which will take all cars and lorries whilst the Road Bridge will continue to carry taxis, buses, cyclists and walkers, massively reducing the load bearing down on the old structure.