San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge marks its 75th birthday this weekend with new night tours and a visitor centre that opened this month, plus a host of festive eventsIn pictures: The Golden Gate bridge past and presentThe Golden Gate Bridge may not look her age ? thanks to a round-the-clock maintenance regime ? but San Francisco's iconic landmark will be 75 years old on this Sunday.As well as music and fireworks on the actual day, the milestone has been marked by a more permanent venture ? a brand-new 3,500 sq ft visitors center, painted the same iconic "International Orange" as the bridge, which opened on 8 May.Some have criticised the location of the center, complaining that it obstructs the view down to Crissy Field, the park directly beneath the bridge, but the new facilities have space for a permanent exhibition telling the bridge's history. Artefacts on display include a 12.5ft model bridge tower built as a "test tower" in 1933. There's also a revamped store where you can buy "birthday presents" from posters ($10 (�6.40)) to coffee mugs ($20) to the inevitable baseball caps ($15.95).For the 50th anniversary, the authorities closed the bridge to traffic, attracting around 300,000 pedestrians whose weight actually flattened the curved central span, something the authorities will, understandably, not be repeating. Instead, the 75th birthday party will take place mainly in Crissy Field with a free music and arts festival ending with a fireworks display on Sunday 27 May (11am-11pm, no alcohol allowed). Some 74 smaller events taking place around the city this summer range from YMCA biking trips across the bridge to an exhibition of historic postcards of the Golden Gate.Walking or cycling across the bridge remains the best way to experience it. As part of the anniversary, the former gift shop, an old art deco building known as the Roundhouse, has been renovated into a base for guided tours featuring another first ? night tours of the bridge.The bridge tours are expensive ($12.95 by day; $21.95 at night) and only operate May-October. An excellent alternative (so long as you're not set on going at night) is SF City Guides, 200 trained volunteers sponsored by the San Francisco Library since 1978 who turn out in all weathers, and all seasons to lead twice-weekly walks around San Francisco, including the bridge. Their tours are free though it's good form to contribute $5 or $10.My guide David had grown up right beside the bridge and knew every detail. He took us to the middle of the � mile-long span and back, while he explained there are 23 miles of ladders and walkways inside the structure and the permanent crew of ironworkers and painters need a 26-page manual so they don't get lost. As we walked, we weaved in and out of the joggers, family groups, cyclists and sightseers on the narrow walkway. Not only tourists visit the Golden Gate: San Franciscans themselves throng here every weekend for the views and the fresh air.And the air is certainly fresh. Even on bright days, when the fog holds off, conditions on the bridge approximate a howling gale. The conditions plus the fact that the guard rail between bridge and water 250ft below is only four-feet high can be a challenge for anyone who does not have a head for heights, but now vertigo-sufferers can confine themselves to the Roundhouse's new Photo Experience, where they can have a "virtual" photo taken that shows them "climbing" the cables or "perching" on one of the two 746ft-tall towers.? Visit goldengatebridge75.org for a free app and to book bridge tours. Bikeandroll.com is one of several companies offering bike rentals keyed to the bridge ? or bike the bridge and take the ferry backFive birthday events Before the Bridge - Sight and sound at the Golden Gate Historic photographs, maps, charts and paintings plus sounds of the sea and fog horns paint a picture of life before the bridge was built. (Montgomery Street Barracks, 23 May - 28 October)Bridge on the Big Screen The Golden Gate goes Hollywood and vice versa. Five-month film series. (26 May ? 15 September)Bridge Art Local artists interpret the bridge at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. (26 May 26 ? 30 June)Musical Bridges Concerts of specially commissioned choral works. (June 22 ? 23)Run the Bridge San Francisco marathon and other races across the bridge. (July 29)? For full details of these and other birthday events see goldengatebridge75.org Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USSan FranciscoUnited StatesUnited StatesNorth and Central Americaguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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