WaterFire’s 2022 Season Has Ended!
Thank you to all who visited and thank you to all of our volunteers, staff, partners, and 2022 supporters. Without you we are not us. We’ll see you in 2023!
Saturday, April 9
Partial lighting, Waterplace Park
Supported by the Gordon School
Sunset (7:20 pm) – 10:00 pm
Wednesday, April 27
WaterFire Season Kick-Off Press Conference &
Strike the Match Fundraiser
Partial lighting, Waterplace Park
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Music Program
Friday, May 13
Partial lighting, the wall of 12 braziers in Memorial Park
Sunset (7:56 pm) – 10:00 pm
Supported by the Providence Warwick Convention at Visitors Bureau
Saturday, June 4
Full Lighting – Sunset (8:16 pm) – Midnight
· Food & Artist Markets open at 6:30 pm
Supported by Rhode Island School of Design
Music Program
Friday, June 10
Partial Lighting, Waterplace Park
Supported by Rhode Island Day of Portugal and Brown University
Sunset (8:20 pm) – 10:00 pm
Music Program
Saturday, June 25
Full Lighting – Sunset (8:25 pm) – Midnight
Supported by Cox Business & Bank of America
· Food & Artist Markets open at 6:30 pm
Music Program
Saturday, July 16
Partial Lighting, Waterplace Park – Sunset (8:18 pm) – 10:00 pm
Supported by New England Bridge Conference
Music Program
Saturday, July 30
RI Defeats Hep C
Supported by Textron Charitable Trust, AbbVie, JPMorgan Chase, & Gilead
Full Lighting – Sunset (8:06 pm) – Midnight
· Food & Artist Markets open at 6:30 pm
· Steeple Street Stage performances begin at 8:00 pm
Music Program
Saturday, August 13
Celebrating Rhode Island’s Communities of Color
Supported by Papitto Opportunity Connection
Full Lighting – Sunset (7:48 pm) – Midnight
· Food and Artist Markets open at 6:00 pm
· The POC Community Village will open at 6:00 pm
· Performances at the Waterplace Place Basin, Steeple Street, and Washington Street Bridge stages will begin at 6:00 pm
Music Program
Saturday, August 27
Clear Currents Community Paddling Night
Supported by Amica Insurance & BankNewport
Full Lighting – Sunset (7:27 pm) – Midnight
· Food fair and artist market vendors open at 6:30 pm
· Morris Dancing Medley performance in Waterplace Park 4:15-7:15 pm
Music Program
Saturday, September 3
Labor Day Weekend
Supported by the Providence Tourism Council
Partial Lighting, Waterplace Park – Sunset (7:16 pm) – 10:00 pm
Saturday, September 24
Celebrating Educational Excellence in Rhode Island with the Rhode Island Department of Education
Supported by Rhode Island Department of Education, XQ Institute, Fidelity Investments, and igus
Full Lighting – Sunset (6:39 pm) – Midnight
· Food fair and artists’ market vendors open at 5:30 pm
· Rhode Island Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year awards ceremony will be held in Memorial Park from 3:00-6:30 pm
· XQ Institute’s XQ+RI Teachers’ Lounge will be open on Washington Street Bridge from 6:00-10:00 pm
· Music Program
Saturday, October 1
Full Lighting – Sunset (6:27 pm) – 11:00 pm
· Food fair and artist market vendors open at 5:30 pm
· Music Program
Friday, October 7
Partial Lighting, RISD Riverwalk (Between Washington & College Streets) – Sunset (6:17 pm) – 9:00 pm
Supported by Rhode Island School of Design
October 22, 2022
Supported by Brown University – Celebrating Brown’s Commitment and Partnership to the City of Providence
Full Lighting – Sunset (5:54 pm) – 11:00 pm
· Food fairs, artists’ market vendors, and other onshore activations open at 5:00 p.m.
· Music Program
Saturday, November 5
WaterFire Salute to Veterans
Supported by lead sponsor General Dynamics Electric Boat with additional support from Rhode Island Energy, Providence VA Medical Center, and Starwood Energy Group.
Full Lighting – Sunset (5:35 pm) – 10:00 pm
· Salute to Veterans Ceremony begins at 4:30 pm in Waterplace Park
· Food Fairs and Artist Vendors open at 4:30 pm
· Music Program
Thurs/Fri/Saturday, December 1-3
WaterFire’s Holiday Celebration
Supported by Mutual of America to benefit Children’s Friend.
· Three Nights of WaterFire (partial lightings), Waterplace Park
5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
· Part of the City of Providence’s Three Nights of Light celebration
· Music Program
This page is the most up-to-date event schedule resource.
- Subscribe to the 2022 WaterFire Season Schedule (iCal)
- Download a printable version of our 2022 Season Schedule (PDF)
- Stay tuned and thank you for your ongoing support.
Celebrate at WaterFire
Proposals, anniversaries, date nights. Make memories at WaterFire.
Your support of the WaterFire Future Fund is more vital now than ever!
Sign up for our newsletter to get schedule updates and other WaterFire news in your inbox!
Thanks to our 2022 WaterFire Season Supporters
WaterFire Providence would like to thank our 2022 WaterFire Season Supporters for their ongoing support: State of Rhode Island, Governor Daniel J. McKee; Rhode Island Commerce; The City of Providence, Mayor Jorge Elorza; The Providence City Council; The Rhode Island General Assembly; Papitto Opportunity Connection; Brown University; Providence Tourism Council; General Dynamics Electric Boat; Mutual of America; XQ Institute; Rhode Island School of Design; Fidelity Investments; Rhode Island Department of Education; The Gordon School; Celebrity Cruises; Bank of America; Amica Insurance; Textron Charitable Trust; YPO Gold New England; Igus; Bank Newport; IGT; Cox Business; AbbVie; New England Bridge Conference; Rhode Island State Council of the Arts; Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau; Skyline at Waterplace; JP Morgan Chase; Starwood Energy; Grow @Annenberg; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Berkshire Bank; Lifespan; RI Day of Portugal; CSL Plasma; Dibbs Inc; Walgreens, New England Aerial Services; University Gastrointestinal; Stanley Tree Service, Inc; Cox Media; Rhode Island Monthly; WPRI 12 & FOX Providence & The Rhode Show; Cumulus Media; iHeartMedia, Inc.; The Providence Journal; Hire A Helper; HomeLight; and LAZ Parking.
All Full WaterFire lightings light up over eighty braziers from Waterplace Park to Memorial/South Main Street Park on scheduled evenings throughout the season. Lighting occurs shortly after sunset and the fires will remain lit until midnight (unless otherwise noted).
Basin lightings include the circle of twenty-two braziers in the Waterplace Park Basin and the five braziers leading up to the Providence Place Mall.
Partial lightings can include braziers in any section of the river. Partial lightings typically encompass only one section of the river but may include more than one.
As support and sponsorships develop, WaterFire will announce additional lightings and programming – check back for updates here and on our Facebook page and Twitter account.
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 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.
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.
Hello Mr Cabral,
My name is Jennie DeSantis and I would like some information if you can rent a booth during Providence’s Water Fire? I work for SuperDraft, it’s an online Fantasy sports & iGaming app. In May it’s legal in RI to have iGaming on an app or website. What SuperDraft is looking to do is sign up memberships on a iPad and have some free gifts and offers to hand out.
We do need some space or a booth to do this. We are willing to pay for this booth. We probably looking for late May or June sometime if tyhat’s on your calendar
Thank you for your time,
You can reach me at [email protected]. .
Hi Jennie, you may have already reached Ed via other channels, but I’ll go ahead and forward this inquiry to our sponsorship team. Sorry for the delayed response.
All the best, Tim
Hi Tim,
I have had a gift certificate for a few years and haven’t been able to use it because of
Covid….will the gondolas be returning this year for the rides along the lit basins?
Yes, the Gondolas will be returning (they actually ran during our partial season in 2021 too). Keep in the mind that if your gift certificate is for LaGondola you’ll need to make your booking on their website, as they are a separate company. You can find them on https://www.gondolari.com/.
Good luck with the April fundraiser & press conference. I am anxiously awaiting the announcement of 2022 dates. Note: I am in Southeastern CT and just learned I am getting the Juneteenth holiday off from work (Sunday this year, but we’ll have off Monday). Please consider a special Sunday, June 19th lighting in honor of this important historical date. My husband & I would love to come up Sunday night and find a place to stay over.
Helo,
I am cognizant of the “free speech activists” that litter public spaces with their diatribes on any number of special interests. However, last year, when I attended Waterfire, I found demonstrators present who were loud, disruptive, and – in my opinion – a most UNwelcome addition to the presentation. I hope they will not be returning this year.
Yes, they were very disruptive. As our event takes place in a public park they are just part of the fabric of daily life.
The Skyline building was actually originally designed (by Mr. Warner himself) to bring disabled people down to the basin level. If they deny you entry, they are breaking the law by not following the ADA.
Has anyone ever mapped a handicapped accessible route for at least a part of the Waterfire experience? I’d love to bring my dad, but it would need to be a small accessible piece of the event, just so he can be involved in some part of it. Thoughts?
Hi Shari, most of the park is wheelchair accessible. The map here on our website shows the locations of ramps into/out of the park. https://waterfire.org/visit/waterfire-event-map/
Look under “Accessibility Points” on the drop at the top of the map.
My mom and I are planning to visit Providence on the 4th – 5th of May. Are there any waterfire events planned for then? I’d love to get to see it, if we can.
Hi Tanya, unfortunately we are not having any events that week. Our 2022 season schedule will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 27.
Being that things kick off in April at least it seems this year from what I gathered it would be amazing if you guys did am autism awareness event (or really anytime of year honestly). My son is 7 with non verbal autism and visiting Waterfire in the Summer is one of the events he and myself really look forward too along with the playground over in that area Brandon’s Beach I believe, that is amazing we enjoy and missed Waterfire so much when it was not happening because of covid.We are so excited to go as much as possible this year!
We’re excited that you and your son are excited. We’d love to do a lighting for Autism Awareness, if you are connected with any local or national support groups for autism and you think they would be interested in sponsoring a WaterFire please have them get in touch with us. https://waterfire.org/support/sponsorship-opportunities/
Can you suggest any restaurants overlooking the event?
Hello,
Capital Grille, Jacky’s Waterplace, The River Social, and Cafe Nuovo all have views of the event.
Just a idea/suggestion coming from someone that constantly forgets about Waterfire when planning things to do during the warm weather months…. Perhaps along with the social media / email / print buttons above, you could also add one of those buttonsa that allows people to add it to their calendar (Outlook/Google/iCal/etc)? A permanent presence in my day-to-day life would be handy. Thanks!
Yes, an iCal link is coming soon. It’s one of the myriad of ways we make it easy for people to keep tabs on the latest event updates.
Here is the link: https://waterfire.org/schedule/gcal/
We were going to visit in October, no lightings that whole month?
Hi Kelly,
Not at this time. We’re working on confirming additional events and an October lighting seems likely, but we don’t like to put out dates when we’re not 100% sure. Please stay tuned and thank you for your patience.
Good afternoon Tim!
Happy summer. Am writing on behalf of SIGMA, National Nurses Honor Society local chapter Delta Upsilon. New to URI College of Nursing, last month I joined SIGMA as a faculty resource. In May, the group discussed ways to reach out to and involve local nurses. See the website vendor application—would our inquiry fall into this category? Are we too late in the game this year? Could we fill a vacancy from a cancellation, provide a blood pressure screening, Covid testing or other health related task in addition to having SIGMA information available?
Thanks in advance for your time—warm regards
Marie Berry, Assistant Clinical Professor URI
Hi Marie, thanks for your inquiry. It’s never too late to get involved at WaterFire. I’m going to send an email and connect you with our operations team and our development team so we can explore opportunities for SIGMA to have a presence at some of our upcoming events.
Mr. Blankenship,
We would like to know if we can set up a table to recruit high school aged students for a new school opening in September called Youthbuild Preparatory
Academy? It would certainly be appreciated and needed to get the word out. Please email me at [email protected].
Hi Lois, please reach out to our community relations manager, Nicole Nehiley ([email protected]).
When will the 2023 WaterFire schedule be available? We would like to attend later this year and will need to make travel arrangements.
Hello Deanna, our 2023 schedule will be out in April. At this point, we do not have any specific dates confirmed.
Thank you for sharing the 2022 WaterFire Providence Event Schedule! I’m looking forward to experiencing the beautiful and vibrant atmosphere of WaterFire Providence this year. I’m especially excited to check out the full lighting events and hear the musical performances live. I’m sure they will create a wonderful atmosphere.