Chili Night in Beckley
Bridge Day
festivals
Rick Barbero
Warm up . Cameron Blair , left , and Nathan Lane , with Beckley Raleigh County Convention Center , serve up chili .
Archive photo
Tale a leap . An 876-foot drop from the New River Bridge to the New River below apparently was not high enough .
Chili Night in Beckley
Beckley , October 5 , 4-7 p . m .
Beckley ’ s 33rd Annual Chili Night is scheduled for the first Saturday in October along streets in downtown Beckley .
The annual fall event features a friendly but fierce chili competition among restaurants , businesses , organizations and individuals with typically more than 40 participants vying for top honors . Last year , Chili Night winners were Coal Camp BBQ for best restaurant / catering and best spicy / hot chili ; Foot , Ankle , Vein and Wound Clinic for best non-restaurant business ; Beckley First Baptist Church for best organization ; and Best Ambulance for most samples served and people ’ s choice .
While the lineup for this year ’ s festival has not been released , downtown streets typically make way for three stages of entertainment , vendors , and ride and slide activities for kids . With a $ 5 admission , attendees receive 5 sample tickets and a voting coin .
Bridge Day
The New River Gorge bridge , October 19
The biggest of all festivals in West Virginia , on the third Saturday of October , the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce hosts Bridge Day , commemorating the day in 1977 when bridge construction was finished .
On this one day a year , the famous New River Gorge Bridge is open to pedestrians . A wide variety of activities draws tens of thousands of people . Visitors experience great views , vendors , BASE jumping , rappelling , music and more . Bridge Day is not only West Virginia ’ s largest oneday festival but also the largest extreme sports event in the world .
The first official Bridge Day was in 1980 when two parachutists jumped from a plane onto the bridge . Three more parachutists joined them and all five jumped from the bridge into the gorge .
For more information , visit the Official Bridge Day website , or call the New River Convention and Visitors Bureau at ( 800 ) 927-0263 .
of can ’ t miss festivals in these parts to just most people would rate towards the top .
DESTINATIONS � JUNE ’ 24 � 31