Jimmy Schwartz walks a slackline hung from the girders under the Walnut Street Bridge during RiverRocks on Saturday at Coolidge Park.
Ana Ortiz, Antonio McMath and Laura Lamb, from left, dance during a Zumba fitness demonstration Saturday at Coolidge Park.Slacklining is a little harder than riding a bike – at least that’s what Edward Yates says.
During the RiverRocks finale Saturday, Yates and Jimmy Schwartz demonstrated slacklining – the practice of walking across a one-inch strip of nylon webbing between two points, derived in part from tightrope walking – underneath the Walnut Street Bridge.
Crowds gathered as the two balanced in the air just below the bridge’s surface – but not over the Tennessee River – walking about 30 feet between two of the ground supports.
“Hopefully, this being out in the public will inspire people to get out and try it,” Schwartz said.
For organizers of RiverRocks, the 10-day event that celebrates Chattanooga’s natural resources, that is the point of the entire festival.