Our 2017 Season has reached its end, thank you to all who made this season a success. We are already hard at work planning for the 2018 season. Updates and news will be posted here on our website and on our Facebook page. In the meantime, you can make a donation to help keep the fires burning.
WaterFire Providence would like to thank all of our 2017 sponsors, their ongoing support has helped to light up Downtown Providence once again.
We are actively working on fundraising and sponsors for the 2017 season and we encourage all of our fans to make a donation to help keep the fires burning. Thank you!
2017 Schedule of WaterFire Providence Lightings
All Full WaterFire installations light up over eighty braziers from Waterplace Park to Memorial/South Main Street Park on the below scheduled evenings. Lighting occurs shortly after sunset and the event continues until half past midnight.
Basin lightings include the circle of twenty-two braziers in the Waterplace Park Basin and the twelve braziers leading up to the Providence Place mall. Partial lightings usually include all of the braziers from Providence Place Mall to Steeple Street.
Visit our event pages for more details about each event.
Saturday, April 8th
Basin Lighting – Sunset: 7:19 p.m.
Sponsored by: Hemophilia Federation Of America
Music Program
Friday, April 28th
Basin Lighting – The fires will be lit at 8:30 p.m.
Sponsored by: Rotary Conference 2017, LLC
Music Program
Friday, May 19th
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:03 p.m.
Sponsored by Providence College: 100 Years of Light – Celebrating a Century of Values that Endure
Music Program
Saturday, May 27th
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:10 p.m.
Sponsored by Bank of America and Brown University
Music Program
Saturday, June 10th
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:20 p.m.
Sponsored by RI Day of Portugal and Rhode Island College with its Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies, with the generous support of Textron Charitable Trust
Music Program
Saturday, June 24th
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:25 p.m.
Sponsored by Cox Business
Music Program
Wednesday, June 28th
Basin Lighting – Sunset 8:25 p.m.
Sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations
Saturday, July 8th
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:22 p.m.
Sponsored by National Grid
Music Program
Friday, July 14th
2017 National Governors Association Summer Meeting
Partial Lighting – Sunset: 8:20 p.m.
Sponsored by the National Governors Association
Thursday, July 20th
Basin Lighting – Sunset: 8:15 p.m.
Sponsored by the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant
Saturday, July 22nd
Featuring WaterFire’s Community Paddling Event – Clear Currents
Full Lighting – Sunset: 8:14 p.m.
Sponsored by Amica Insurance and Fidelity Investments
Music Program
Thursday, July 27th
Basin Lighting – Sunset 8:09 p.m.
Sponsored by Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA) Summer Conference
Saturday, August 5th – C is for Cure: A WaterFire Lighting for RI Defeats Hep C
Full Lighting – Sunset: 7:59 p.m.
Sponsored by GILEAD
Music Program
Sunday, September 3rd
Full Lighting – Sunset: 7:15 p.m.
Sponsored by the Providence Tourism Council
Music Program
Saturday, September 23rd
Full Lighting – Sunset 6:41 p.m.
Sponsored by the University of Rhode Island: Celebrating 125 years of Thinking Big
Music Program
Saturday, September 30th – Flames of Hope a Celebration of Life™
Full Lighting – Sunset: 6:29 p.m.
Sponsored by Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation
Music Program
Thursday, October 19th – FireBall*
The stellar celebration at the future home of WaterFire Providence!
5:30 – 11:00 p.m. at the WaterFire Arts Center
* The FireBall is our annual fundraiser. This is not a WaterFire lighting, but it’s still a lot of fun. Get your tickets today!
Saturday, November 4th – WaterFire Salute to Veterans
Full Lighting – Sunset: 5:36 p.m.
Walmart, Amazon Studios and LAST FLAG FLYING, the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association, Bank of America, Dominion Energy, Chase Canopy, the Providence VA Medical Center, and many other generous sponsors help WaterFire to honor Veterans across Southern New England
Music Program
A printable copy of the 2017 WaterFire Providence Season Schedule is available for your convenience.
As sponsorship develops, WaterFire will announce additional lightings and programming – watch for updates here and on our Facebook page and Twitter account.
WaterFire Providence is still actively seeking sponsors to add additional lightings in the 2017 season.
You can help us keep the fires burning by making a donation to keep the fires burning, joining the Brazier Society of WaterFire Providence, or by becoming a WaterFire Providence sponsor.
WaterFire Providence’s Plan Your Trip to Providence web page is the #1 resource for up-to-date details about the event, transportation, parking, hotels, restaurants and other local attractions. Ignite Providence is a WaterFire curated website presenting activities and events in and around Providence on WaterFire weekends that help visitors explore a longer stay in the Creative Capital.
Each year WaterFire attracts nearly 1 million visitors to downtown Providence to experience art in the city. Annually, WaterFire activity creates $113 million in economic output for local businesses, generates over $9 million of tax revenue for the State of Rhode Island and supports 1,294 jobs for community residents.
Fire marshal regulations do not permit folding chairs to be set up on any of the riverwalks to assure safe passage for all of our visitors. WaterFire is an event to be explored and savored on foot as you wander around to discover its many surprises, leave your chairs in the car and start exploring all that our event has to offer.
