August 5th, 2017 – Full Lighting

WaterFire is ON for this Saturday Evening!

The rain front has passed and it should clear for a wonderful evening. Check Twitter or Facebook for late-breaking updates. The lighting will occur on schedule.

C is for Cure: A WaterFire Lighting for RI Defeats Hep C sponsored by GILEAD

Event activities begin in Waterplace Park at 6:00 p.m. See below for more details.

Visit the Rhode Island Defeats Hep C Resource Fair on College Street

There will be free confidential hepatitis C screening on the College Street Bridge. The Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Organ Donor Awareness, Johnson & Wales University, Brown University Alpert Medical School and Salve Regina University will be among the booths present at the resource fair.

Opening Ceremonies will kick-off with a performance by the Gendo Taiko Drummers starting at 7:30 p.m. on the Basin Stage. Brian R. Edlin, MD, Dr. Jag Khalsa, Brown University President Christina Paxon and Dr. Lynn Taylor will be the lead torchbearers in the opening torch procession, which will feature doctors and medical professionals who have worked to bring awareness to hep C and have been influential in finding a cure. Gendo Taiko is Brown and RISD’s premier Japanese drumming group. Taiko is a group performance art that combines traditional Japanese drumming with elements of martial arts and modern jazz. Gendo is known for performing a wide diversity of taiko styles, at venues including Gillette Stadium, the Newport Black Ships Festival, and GRAVITY, Gendo’s annual spring performance. Gendo Taiko is honored to perform support WaterFire Providence in the battle against Hepatitis C.

The C is for Cure Music Stage will be on Steeple Street from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The stage will feature a variety of performances including the You Rock Select Band (6:00 – 7:00 PM), Gatsby Now (7:05 – 8:55 p.m.), and Rose Weaver’s Honeysuckle Rose Band (9:15 – 11:00 p.m.) Between musical acts, there will be speaking programs bringing awareness to hep C and its cure.

Participate in the Passport to a Cure scavenger hunt and experience all of the great entertainment and educational offerings that this event has to offer. Pick up a copy of the WaterFire event program and map at any of our WaterFire greeter stations to get started. Visitors can get their passports stamped, or just snap a photo with their smartphone, at the following event locations: the Guest Station in the Waterplace Park Basin Tunnel, Steeple Street near the WaterFire Music Stage, the Starry, Starry Night installation in Memorial Park, and the RI Defeats Hep C resource fair on the College Street Bridge. Participants can return their completed passports or show their photos at the WaterFire Membership Table on Market Square for a chance to win some special prizes. Each stop along the Passport to a Cure route will be marked with a set of three illuminated gold stars.

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C is for Cure: A WaterFire Lighting for RI Defeats Hep C Event Details:

August 5th, 2017 – Full Lighting

Sunset time: 7:59 p.m.
Music Program

All Full WaterFire installations light up over eighty braziers from Waterplace Park to Memorial/South Main Street Park. Lighting occurs shortly after sunset (7:59 p.m.) and the event continues until half past midnight.

WaterFire is thrilled to join in a public awareness campaign about hepatitis C as part of Dr. Lynn E. Taylor’s larger RI Defeats Hep C campaign. “We are organizing a statewide campaign to eliminate hep C in RI. With the powerful new medicines we now have available and the cooperative networks for care in RI organized by the RI Department of Health we have a chance to greatly improve the health of all Rhode Islanders impacted by this disease. Working with WaterFire we are bringing more attention to this silent epidemic, providing up to date health information, and providing free hep C screening. We are doing this in coordination with the World Health Organization’s World Hepatitis Day.”

For the fourth year, WaterFire welcomes back GILEAD as a sponsor “At GILEAD, we are inspired by the opportunity to address unmet medical needs for people living with potentially life-threatening diseases. We are proud to sponsor WaterFire Providence and light a fire in recognition of the more than 3 million Americans living with hepatitis C.”

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Before the lighting see Grupo Ondas Capoeira on the Basin Stage from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Grupo Ondas Capoeira will hold their Batizado graduation ceremony from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on the Basin Stage before the lighting ceremony. This Afro-Brazilian martial art combines fighting, dancing, acrobatics, and music into a “game” that is as breath-taking to watch as it is to play! The batizado, literally baptism in Portuguese and borrowed from the religious tradition, is a graduation ceremony introducing the new mestres (masters) of the group.

The WaterFire Arts Festival Plaza

The WaterFire Arts Festival Plaza, in partnership with Bryce Studio, returns to Washington Street for the 2017 WaterFire Providence season. The Arts Festival Plaza and will be active from 6:00 – 11:30 p.m. This outdoor artisan fair will showcase some of the great artwork created in Rhode Island in mediums such as glass, photography, sculpture, jewelry and more. The WaterFire Arts Festival Plaza will offer visitors the opportunity to purchase artwork by Rhode Island-based artists.

Grab a bite to eat! Visit one of our great food vendors:

Visit Starry, Starry Night

The Starry, Starry Night Installation will shine brightly in Memorial Park. Join thousands of WaterFire visitors in Memorial Park where the public is encouraged to add their own light to the night. For a small donation to WaterFire, make a wish upon a star or place your very own message and luminaria candle lantern in the park. The park will be aglow with hanging blue stars and a constellation of twinkling luminaria candle lanterns below.

WaterFire’s favorite characters are back!

Fire dancers Spogga Hash, Andrew Lindsay and Ember Flynne will dazzle the crowds during several performances throughout the evening at the confluence and on the wall of braziers in Memorial Park.

Mime artist Michael Grando will return again for this event. Be sure to catch Michael, in costume as the Commedia dell’arte character Pierrot, as he cruises the river tossing carnations to visitors along the shore.

Origami Master Andrew Anselmo will delight crowds of all ages near the RISD auditorium.

Charge up with National Grid

Make sure you can capture the magic of WaterFire all evening long by visiting National Grid charging station on the Washington Street Bridge to recharge your smartphone and other mobile devices during the lighting.

Step back through history at the Governor Stephen Hopkins House

Make time to see The Governor Stephen Hopkins House located at 15 Hopkins Street (off Benefit Street). They are open for tours: Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m.to 2:00 p.m. and April through November on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. & until 10:00 p.m., when they fall on a full WaterFire lighting (the last tour begins at 9:30 p.m.).

Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

The museum is also open by appointment, for which there may be a modest admission charge. Please email [email protected] to make an appointment.