Office of Communications
News Release
501 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 600
Portland Oregon 97214
PDX Bridge Festival kicks off this weekend
Contacts:
Mike Pullen, Public Affairs Office, 503-988-6804, mike.j.pullen@co.multnomah.or.us
Tucker Teutsch, 3.0, PDX Bridge Festival, 503-484-6793, tucker@pdxbridgefestival.org
The first annual PDX Bridge Festival kicks off this weekend with a fortnight-long celebration of the city’s Willamette River bridges. The focus of the festival is Multnomah County’s Hawthorne Bridge which celebrates 100 years of service in 2010. The nation’s oldest working vertical lift bridge will host an art installation and several community events during the festival.
An interactive fabric and light art installation will illuminate the Hawthorne Bridge from 10 pm on Saturday, July 24 through August 8. Panels of fabric will be installed in the bridge trusses, turning the structure into a wash of color and slowly moving light. The color of the lights will shift in response to traffic moving across the bridge.
Installation of the fabric and lights will require closure of the Hawthorne’s two center lanes and a closure to river traffic from 10 pm on Friday, July 23 to 10 am on Saturday, July 24. The outside traffic lanes and both sidewalks will remain open. TriMet buses will continue to use the Hawthorne Bridge during the work.
The festival program includes more than 60 events, from concerts to bridge walks, lectures, films and more. The Burnside Bridge is hosting a second art installation. The DrawBridge Project was unveiled July 22nd and runs through August 9. Local third grade students created works of art representing the role of the Willamette River bridges in their lives. Selected drawings were used to create four-color banners that hang from streetlights on the bridge. A free reception for the students and their families will be held Sunday, July 25 from 1 – 4 pm at the University of Oregon White Stag Building at 70 NW Couch Street.
Multnomah County’s Board of Commissioners has proclaimed July 23 through August 8 as PDX Bridge Festival. “I am very excited to see a group of talented citizens step forward to create an event that is uniquely about Portland,” said County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury, who serves on the festival’s advisory council. “Most or the events are free or low cost and many are geared for families.”
Multnomah County maintains the Hawthorne Bridge and is a sponsor of the PDX Bridge Festival. For more information, visit www.pdxbridgefestival.org or www.multco.us/bridges.