Lighting Procession
At Full WaterFire Lightings the Lighting Procession begins at Dyer Street Landing and our 7 fire-tending boats travel upstream to the basin in Waterplace Park. There they are met by torchbearers who carry the flame that will light WaterFire. This ceremony recreates the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods in Greek Mythology.
RISD Fleet Library
Founded in 1878, the RISD Library is one of the oldest independent art college libraries in the country. In the summer of 2006 the Library moved into a new facility in the first two floors of the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust bank at 15 Westminster Street directly across the river from the RISD Auditorium.
Trash!
Yes, sometimes there is trash in the river. WaterFire volunteers do sweeps to remove floating trash before and during each WaterFire lighting, but our rivers are in an urban environment, trash happens. Street trash quickly becomes river trash and eventually ocean trash. You can do your part by making sure that any waste you generate while at WaterFire makes it securely into a trash or recycling receptacle.
College Street Bridge
College Street leads directly to the Van Wickle Gates at Brown University. The gates were built with the bequest of Augustus Stout Van Wickle (Class of 1876, d. 1898), who was the president of a bank and several coal corporations.
The story goes that if you pass through the Van Wickle Gates’ main door more than twice, you will be cursed. Some say you won’t graduate. Some say you’ll never marry.
Fire Tenders
Fire Tenders are one of the most visible groups of volunteers at WaterFire. They are the actors on our stage. Fire Tenders along with the Fire Boat Captains and First-mates are responsible for keeping our fires at a high crackling blaze. The frequent and methodical addition of logs to the fires helps keep the flames high and reduce the amount of smoke and soot our pine firewood creates.
Fire Tenders are one type of the many volunteer roles that we have at WaterFire. You can learn more about volunteering on our Volunteer HQ.
Our Boats
Prometheus depicted in a sculpture by Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, 1762 (Louvre)
Our Fire Tending boats are named for Gods in the pantheon of Greek Mythology. Aphrodite, Daedalus, Pheobus, Apollo, and Eos are all led in the Lighting Procession by Prometheus.
The People!
WaterFire is for the people. Every person who comes to a WaterFire lighting takes something personal and unique from the event. An estimated 50-100 thousand people participate in each lighting and each person has their own WaterFire story. Share your story with us.
