JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
All 26 piers of the Veterans Memorial Bridge will blaze Sunday night for the first time in more than a decade, marking a milestone moment for the annual Riverfest celebration between Columbia and Wrightsville.
The lighting will take place around 7:45 p.m. on June 28, with the bridge closed to vehicle traffic and open to pedestrians so visitors can get a clear view. While the piers are set to be lit at that time, organizers say there's no way to predict how long the burn will last.
The piers, remnants of earlier bridges that once spanned the Susquehanna River before the current Veterans Memorial Bridge was completed in 1930, are typically lit only a few at a time each year by the Susquehanna National Heritage Area as part of Riverfest.
The last time all of the surviving stone piers were lit simultaneously was in 2013 for the 150th anniversary of the original bridge burning. This year's full lighting honors the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Riverfest itself commemorates a piece of Civil War history: in June 1863, residents of York and Lancaster counties burned the covered bridge that once crossed the river there, blocking Confederate troops from advancing toward Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The festival runs Friday through Sunday this year and celebrates the shared histories of both counties.
Ahead of the lighting, the public can attend a "Light Up the Night" viewing party at Columbia Crossing, 41 Walnut St. in Columbia, starting at 6 p.m. The Maxwell Project will perform live there from 6 to 8 p.m. A related talk featuring speaker Scott Mingus is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the same location.
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