WaterFire's Holiday Celebration

WaterFire’s Holiday Celebration – Featuring Three Nights of WaterFire!
Partial lightings, Waterplace Park
5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Music Program

Supported by Mutual of America to benefit Children’s Friend.

Due to inclement weather WaterFire Providence announces that all of the Santa-related programming scheduled for Saturday’s WaterFire lighting will be moved to Friday, December 2. All three partial lightings planned for Providence’s Three Nights of Lights will still happen rain or shine, with A Holiday Celebration at WaterFire sponsored by Mutual of America Financial Group to be switched to Friday instead. The partial lightings will take place in the basin of Waterplace Park at 5:30 p.m. with the fires remaining lit until 9:00 p.m as previously scheduled. 

A toy drive benefitting the families of Children’s Friend will be taking place each night (plus more options to donate throughout the month of November). Did you know you can shop online for gifts for Children’s Friend’s Spirit of Giving Holiday Drive? Shop now!

Drop-off Toys at the WaterFire Arts Center

You can help provide the gift of holiday giving to families in need all season long by dropping off your new, unwrapped toys in person at the WaterFire Arts Center (WFAC). The WFAC is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and is open late every Thursday until 9:00 pm and we’ll be accepting toy donations from now through December 9th. We have several holiday shopping events coming up during time which makes it a great time to give a gift in support of Children’s Friend and to do a little of your own. See our event calendar for a full listing of holiday events and help support local artists and makers on November 26 at the WaterFire Small Business Saturday Holiday ArtMart. Children’s Friend will have a pop-up booth at the Holiday ArtMart where you can learn more about their important work on behalf of local families and of course donate a gift to the toy drive.

Waterplace Park will transform into a holiday wonderland thanks to Stanley Tree Service, Inc. who have donated 20 six-foot Christmas trees that will circle the basin of the river, including the 24-foot tree that will be prominently displayed front and center on the stage. After the event, Stanley Tree will collect the trees and donate them to local veterans and families of veterans in need throughout Rhode Island.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

WaterFire’s 24-foot tree will be illuminated at 5:30 p.m. in coordination with the lighting of the fires, kicking off the first day of Three Nights of Lights. 

Festival Ballet Providence will have the Nutcracker and the Mouse King visiting the basin in Waterplace Park at 6:00 p.m. to meet visitors and take photos.

Holiday Celebration ArtMart artists will be located on the river walk below the IGT building and in the tunnel connecting Waterplace Park to Union Plaza. Artists will include: Joseph Mushipi Visual Artist,  Amber n Crystals, Into The Woods, RevibedVinyl, Uncouth Curations,Goddex Apothecary, The Roving House, Casted By T, SecondStDesignsRI, and Hang on Design.

Food fairs will open at 5:30 p.m. with vendors in three locations with Nanu Burmese Fusion, Saugy’s, and Spanglish located on Finance Way with Cookie Chow in front of the Union Station Tunnel.

Friday, December 2, 2022

* On Friday, December 2 Santa will arrive by boat at 6:00 p.m. and will be available for pictures in Santa’s Village on the ground floor terrace at Skyline at Waterplace until 8:30 p.m.

* A Silent Soapbox’s Holiday Fairy will be visiting Waterplace Park from 5:30- 8:30 p.m.

* Festival Ballet Providence will have The Dancing Pandas perform on the basin stage in Waterplace park at 6:30 p.m.

Holiday Celebration ArtMart artists will be located on the river walk below the IGT building and in the tunnel connecting Waterplace Park to Union Plaza. Artists will include: Joseph Mushipi Visual Artist, Into The Woods, Celeste Diaz Falcone, RevibedVinyl, Sparkles & Glow by Yvonne, Uncouth Creations, Glass Monkey Arts , The Roving House, Odettas, Sarah Breslin: Illustration + Portraiture, Sunu Body, and Casted by T.

Food fairs will open at 5:30 p.m. with vendors in three locations with Poppin Minis, Cultro PVD,  Saugy’s, One2Taconmore located on Finance Way  and Kettle Kom Express located in front of the IGT Terrace in the basin of Waterplace Park. 

Fire performers from Cirque de Light will be performing on WaterFire wood boats throughout the night.

CANCELED DUE TO RAIN
Saturday, December 3, 2022

Holiday Celebration ArtMart artists will be located on the river walk below the IGT building and in the tunnel connecting Waterplace Park to Union Plaza. Artists will include: Joseph Mushipi Visual Artist,  Amber n Crystals, Into The Woods, Celeste Diaz Falcone, RevibedVinyl, Sparkles & Glow by Yvonne, Uncouth Creations, Pourover Creations, Goddex Apothecary, Ecuador At Your Door, Roses N Dragons, Glass Monkey Arts , The Roving House, and Odettas. 

Food fairs will open at 5:30 p.m. with vendors in three locations with Nanu Burmese Fusion, Saugy’s, One2Taconmore located on Finance Way, Cookie & Chow in front of the Union Station Tunnel, and Kettle Kom Express located in front of the IGT Terrace in the basin of Waterplace Park. 

WaterFire’s Holiday Celebration is part of Providence’s Three Nights of Lights event presented by the City of Providence, Providence Warwick Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, and Rhode Island Commerce in partnership with The Avenue Concept, FirstWorks, and WaterFire Providence.

A popup not to be missed! WaterFire Accelerate Holiday Popup Studio and Shop at the Graduate

Meet the WaterFire Accelerate Artists tonight, tomorrow and Saturday night, Dec. 1, 2, and 3 starting at 4pm each night. The 2022-23 cohort artists are Denzel Amoah (@dddenzellll), Justin DeGraide (@de.graide), Savaree “Sav” Hazard-Chaney (@artxbyxsav), Hannah Nahas (@babeintheunknown), Rhue Nobre (@luckyrhue), and Elijah Trice (@elijahtrice.art).

Stop by the windows at the Graduate (@graduatehotels) to explore the work by the current cohort, all are welcome inside the studio to meet the artists. Work by two 2021-22 cohort artists: Jared Winslow (@winslow_j) in the studio and right down the street experience work by Julio Berroa (@berroaworld) in partnership w. The Avenue Concept starting at 5:30 projected on the side of the Turks head building (35 Weybosset St.).

WaterFire’s Festival of Trees is back for our 2022 Holiday Celebration

Photograph by David Amadio

Photograph by Erin Cuddigan

Photograph by Jen Bonin

WaterFire is looking for companies to sponsor the decoration of our Festival of Trees installation. 

For $500 Each WaterFire Holiday Tree Sponsorship includes

• Listed as a supporter of the WaterFire Holiday Celebration on the event landing on the WaterFire.org website
• Listed as a supporter in all the promotional materials, including the WaterFire Holiday Celebration event pamphlet.
• A sign recognizing your sponsorship on one the trees for all 3 nights
• Recognition (tagging) in social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
• WaterFire will purchase all the decorations needed to decorate each tree. 
• After the events, WaterFire, in partnership with Stanley Tree will donate each tree to a veteran in need.

Thank you to our 2022 Festival of Trees Supporters