Organizers gear up for Bridgefest

PROSPECT – Bridgefest organizers are gearing up for the one-day celebration of the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory.

The celebration will offer a full day of activities beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 23. Organizers hope to re-create some of the enthusiasm and excitement they saw during the BridgeWalk last fall when people were able to walk the length of the new bridge before it was opened to vehicles.

“There was a real community feeling that day,” said Alvion Kimball of Orland, who chairs the two county committee that has been planning the Bridgefest celebration. “People had conversations on that bridge who hadn’t seen each other in 10 or 12 years. It was an incredible experience and we want to keep that spirit going.”

The event is more than a community celebration, Kimball said. By focusing attention on the bridge organizers can build a sense of identity for the wider Penobscot region.

“When people go up in the observation tower and stand on that deck, they get a different perspective on the region,” he said.

The bridge and observatory offers an opportunity to market the wider Penobscot region to visitors both in-state and from away, he said. It sits in the center of three gateway communities – Ellsworth, Bangor and Belfast, that can both attract visitors who come to see the bridge and observatory and keep them in the region.

Penobscot Narrows, he said, is the “bellybutton” of the region sitting at the head of the bay and the mouth of the river. Within 35 miles of the observation tower there are three gateway communities, three county seats and one international airport, and, a little farther north, the Penobscot Nation, Kimball pointed out. They all sit within 45 minutes of the tallest man-made rural observatory in the world, he said.

“This is the leading piece of bridge design in the country,” Kimball said. “We’re presenting what Maine is doing in technology. This was built by Maine companies and Maine people. Sometimes we’re a little too humble for our own good. We need to tell people about this.”

Bridgefest, he said, is a “local celebration of an international destination.”

The Bridgefest could become an annual event, involving a wider group of communities than is involved this year, he said.

The full day of events this year will kick off with a parade across the bridge beginning at 10 a.m. The Maine Department of Transportation will close the southbound lane to traffic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to allow people to walk across the bridge. Although one lane will be closed, DOT will route two-way traffic onto the 20-foot-wide northbound lane in order to keep traffic moving in both directions during that four-hour period.

Events planned for the day include a Penobscot Nation smudge ceremony on the bridge, a boat regatta led by the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Thunder Bay, and an aircraft flyover featuring a Black Hawk helicopter.

Tickets for the observatory will be free to the public throughout the day and can be obtained starting at 9 a.m. the day of the festival at the gatehouse entrance at the Fort Knox Historic Site. Tickets cannot be reserved ahead of time.

Parking is limited at the fort and observatory site, so Bridgefest organizers will run shuttle buses between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Bucksport High School, Perry’s Variety Store and the Penobscot Marine Museum. Handicapped-accessible buses will be available.

The highlight of the day will be a fireworks display beginning at nightfall, around 9 p.m. At the end of the fireworks, the decorative bridge lighting on the towers and cables will be turned on for the first time.