Golden Gate Bridge Opening Fiesta Week, May 27 to June 2, 1937
The Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta was a weeklong celebration that included a nightly pageant at Crissy Field, fireworks, parades, and entertainment. Schools were closed and businesses were either closed or reduced to minimum staff to join the festivities.
The Official Program of the Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta outlined the week-long schedule of events and included the toll rates, general rules and traffic rules for the new bridge. It also included a letter from San Francisco Mayor Angelo Rossi, photographs of the bridge engineers, and various facts about the span.
On May 27, 1937, the Fiesta began at 6 am with Pedestrians Day – the entire roadway was opened exclusively to pedestrians from dawn to dusk. By 6 am, thousands of people were waiting to cross. A number of “firsts” took place that day with people competing to be the first to run, roller skate, tap dance, ride a unicycle or cross on stilts. This proved to be a memorable event, with news reports estimating up to as many as 200,000 pedestrians participated. At nearby Crissy Field, marching bands and floats that had traveled the flag-decorated parade route passed before a formal “Span of Gold” reviewing stand. Strauss arrived at about 10 am and simply shared his poem, “At last, the mighty task is done.” That night, the city celebrated the bridge with an enormous display of fireworks.
The Fiesta’s second day would be for automobiles. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House declaring the span open to the entire world. Here are a few of the special celebrations that took place on May 28, 1937:
| 9:30 am: | Marin approach dedication ceremony sponsored by the Redwood Empire Association with speeches by Governor Merriam, San Francisco Mayor Rossi and others. |
| 10:15 am: | International California Redwood Log-Barrier Sawing Contest. |
| 10:30 am: | Chain-cutting ceremony on Golden Gate Bridge at the Marin tower, the San Francisco-Marin County line. In attendance were San Francisco Mayor Rossi, Board President Filmer, and Board member and treasurer of Redwood Empire Association Frank P. Doyle. |
| 10:50 am: | Floral Gate Ceremony on toll plaza, with Fiesta Queens garlanded with flowers forming a living gate, which opened to official dignitaries following presentation of the completed Golden Gate Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District by chief engineer Strauss, and acceptance by Board President Filmer. |
| 11:00 am: | Flight over the Bridge by 500 planes from Navy aircraft carriers Ranger, Lexington and Saratoga and battleships 60 miles out at sea. |
| 12:00 Noon: | President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House declaring the span open to the entire world. Autos traveled over the Bridge simultaneously from the San Francisco and Marin sides. |
| 3:00 pm: | The arrival of the United States Fleet. |
| 10:00 pm: | A grand fireworks display. |