Dance on the Falls Bridge

One night a year, East Falls shines for all of Philadelphia. Photos & video from last Saturday night, when we closed down our bridge for live music, dancing, fashion, and slivers of metal burning at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. The Dance on the Falls Bridge certainly delivered!

EastFallsLocal COLLAGE candids from the Falls Bridge textFrom what I can tell, the Dance on the Falls Bridge is like all the good parts of a wedding — music, food, dancing, friends — without the drama, speeches, or gift-giving. Frankly, they had me at “open bar” but really and truly the amazing thing about this event is:  You. Are. On. A. Bridge.  

At night, no less, with twinkling lights strung high, the traffic on Ridge & Kelly drive glittering by, the stars in the skies way up above, and all of this reflected in the jet-black water underneath. It’s dizzying. Especially when the crowd gets jumping, and you can feel the bridge’s steel girders bouncing with the beat. 

Exhilarating! It’s hard to describe how perfect a venue our historic “Pratt truss” bridge is for partying in style and romance. The crowd who came out was as diverse as they come, not just locals but a cross-section of greater Philadelphia. In fact, if there’s one tweak I could suggest (besides glow sticks, ha) it’s that this event could be even more fun with more of the neighborhood involved.

Eastfallslocal Heading In collage text

In any event, by 8:00 pm, over a hundred people were lined up along Kelly Drive — lines were a little slow getting started, but soon the bridge was full of people, many dressed to the Nines, which was so fun to see! East Falls loves to gussy up with flair & whimsy.

 

Big props to the “Sofa Kings” (huh huh uh huh) for their amazing catalog of dance songs. It’s not easy to keep such a mixed crowd dancing all night, but with these guys the hits kept coming. At first, the “dancey” people busted out their fancy moves, but before long they were mobbed by less-polished but gleefully enthusiastic revelers.

Eastfallslocal bartenders beer collage

Alcohol Round Up:  Beer by Yards (Brawlers, yum!) and I think I saw a Miller Lite tap too…. Red & white wine. Also, the folks from Art in the Age were offering tastings of their craft liquors.

EastFallsLocal fashion on parade food trucks insert ha

Best part about the food trucks (for me) was the fashion parade! The food was good, too — at least, our shared $10 paper cup of steak & bacon-covered fries was sooooo yummy. And all the different food truck offerings looked really nice but they were all kinda gut bombs, ugh. Great for drinking, I see the logic here but when I’m dressed up & tottering on heels the last thing I wanna do is crouch on pavement & shovel potatoes down my gullet. 

Now if these were all little bars with fancy cocktails…. Maybe some stools to perch on while you drink…??? Hmmmm….

Eastfallslocal sparkler collage text

OMG — the sparklers. Really, guys? Crowding hundreds of drunks onto a bridge then giving us all pointy metal slivers spewing sparks & heat? I was terrified! But then, I am a big chicken around fireworks of all kinds. Still, maybe next year we can do glow sticks or smoke bombs or fireflies or something (or fireworks over the river!). 

 

So much fun! People didn’t want to leave, they were literally dancing off the bridge as the Event Staff shooed us all away at midnight. 

Eastfallslocal collage text see ya next yearFor more information about Dance on the Falls Bridge, visit their facebook page or reach out the the East Falls Development Corporation.

2 Comments

  1. I’m sure I saw the ghost’s of my ancestors who are buried buried in Laurel Hill, Mount Vernon and Mount Peace dancing with the many family members who still call east falls their home. I will be joining this event next year I feel like East Falls is calling me home.

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