The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco lit up the night sky this Sunday with an eye-catching fireworks display in celebration of its 75th anniversary. Not only that, but live bands, plus a lot of food and dance made this the place to be for Memorial Day weekend.

To the delight of onlookers, the elaborate pyrotechnics shot off from the bridge itself and could be glimpsed from miles around.

Watch the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary Fireworks Display

When the bridge was fist commissioned, it was the subject of quite a bit of controversy. At the time of its opening, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, but it was an extremely expensive project. It put a lot of ferry operators out of work, and many of the locals believed the mighty span would ruin the scenic view across San Francisco Bay.

And let’s not forget that this was a post-depression era project, and a bunch of folks couldn’t see the sense in building such a massive span when they were more concerned about putting bread on their tables. Even the military was worried about it, fearing that on the event of a collapse, it would block access to the bay.

But years later, the Golden Gate Bridge stands as an iconic landmark of California. Right now, work is underway to make it more resistant to the wind and better able to withstand San Francisco’s famous earthquakes.