• On the downtown side, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps will give opening remarks at noon, the new Johnson Street Bridge will be lowered into position and there will be a ribbon-cutting followed by a pedestrian procession across the bridge. Then the community picnic begins. The celebration runs until 5 p.m.
• Picnic tables will be available for people who want to bring a lunch or buy something from food trucks on site.
• Concert lineup:
12:30 p.m. Celtic band Cookeilidh
1:30 p.m. First Nation Lekwungen Dancers
2 p.m. Indie-soul quintet the New Souls
3 p.m. Folk-rock roots band Dirty Mountain
4 p.m. Six-piece electronica act Astrocolor
• Watch for: A Ford Model T from 1924 (the old Johnson Street Bridge opened to the public on Jan. 11, 1924), Car No. 40 from the Victoria Police Department, and a 1924 fire truck from the Victoria Fire Department Historical Society.
• Bring the kids: There will be activity stations to share memories of the old bridge and crafts for kids.
• Both bridges and their pedestrian walkways will be open for activities until 5 p.m. After that, the old bridge will be open for pedestrians and cyclists only. It will be closed to the public when traffic starts to flow on the new bridge.
• Open to traffic: The new bridge opens to all traffic at about 9 p.m.
• Bridge work: Even though the new bridge opens today, additional work around it will continue, requiring periodic lane closures and detours until late summer.
