"Everyone is biking and walking and looks very happy," she said. "We're off to a great start."
San Francisco resident Daniel Sutphin and his family were among those in the crowd enjoying the day and the views of the bridge.
"It's such an iconic structure, depending on the day or the hour, it just looks like it changes continuously," Sutphin said as he walked through the Fort Point area with his wife and their three young children.
A monumental nighttime fireworks display was scheduled over the bridge.
In a stark contrast to the thousands of celebrants, members of the group the Bridge Rail Foundation, an organization dedicated to stopping suicide jumps from the bridge, erected a display of 1,558 pairs of shoes, representing the number of people who died in leaps form the bridge since it opened in 1937.
Meanwhile on the water, Golden Gate ferries were running again after a one-day strike disrupted service across San Francisco Bay on Saturday.
Workers represented by the Inlandboatmen's Union walked off the job on a day strike, forcing the cancellation of ferries operated by Golden Gate between Larkspur, Sausalito and San Francisco.
The strike was called after nearly a year of negotiations over workloads and other matters, said Marina Secchitano, the union's regional director.
