Thank you to our 2024 WaterFire Season Supporters for helping to keep the fires burning.
The 2024 WaterFire season currently includes six (6) full lightings and two (2) partial lightings. The 2024 WaterFire Season will kick off with a wall lighting in Memorial Park in coordination with the scheduled release with the first full lighting to follow on Saturday, June 1st. Community favorite events including, honoring Rhode Island Educators, Breast Cancer Survivors, and Rhode Island Veterans will return in 2024 and bring our friends and neighbors together to learn from and celebrate with each other. Additional lightings may be added to the schedule as funding becomes available.
Due to declining revenue from sponsorship, the long-term financial impacts caused by the pandemic and in an effort to reduce expenses, our summer WaterFire events will now end at 11 PM instead of midnight. Thank you for understanding.
Your donation now is more urgent than ever.
Want to learn more about our 2024 season and what we’ve got planned? Send us a text: (401) 399-4460. You can also stay up-to-date by following us on social media on Instagram: @WaterFireProv and @WaterFireArtsCenter and Facebook: WaterFire Providence and WaterFire Arts Center.
Join us for the next WaterFire lighting:
2024 WaterFire Season Schedule
Thursday, April 18
Partial Lighting, Memorial Park
Sunset (7:30 pm) – 9:30 pm
WaterFire Day – Season Schedule Announcement
Celebrate by Dining Out in Providence
Saturday, May 11
Partial Lighting in Waterplace Basin
Sunset (7:55 pm) – 10:00 pm
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:30 pm
Supported by the Governor’s Office, Always Learning Rhode Island, National Governors Association, and Rhode Island Department of Education in celebration of Learn365RI
Saturday, June 1
Full Lighting
Sunset (8:14 pm) – 11:00 pm
Supported by the Rhode Island School of Design
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:30 pm
Music Program
Thursday, July 4*
Full Lighting – Providence Independence Day Celebration
Sunset (8:24 pm) – 11:00 pm
Support by the Providence Tourism Council
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:30 pm
Music Program
Tuesday, July 30
Partial Lighting in Waterplace Basin
Sunset (8:05 pm) – 10:00 pm
Supported by American Association for State Compensation Insurance Fund (AASCIF) Annual Conference
Saturday, August 3
Full Lighting – Clear Currents Community Paddling Night
Sunset (8:00 pm) – 11:00 pm
Supported by Cox Business and Fidelity Investments
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 17
Full Lighting
Sunset ( 7:42 pm ) – 11:00 pm
Suported by the Providence Tourism Council with additional support from Red Bull
Wake the Flames, a Red Bull Wakeskating performance from 7:45-8:30 pm in the Waterplace Park Basin
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 31
Full Lighting
Sunset (7:07 pm) – 11:00 pm
Supported by Dunkin’
Onshore programming and vendors open at 6:00 pm
Saturday, September 21
Full Lighting
Sunset (6:43 pm) – 11:00 pm
Supported by the Rhode Island Department of Education and Amica Mutual Insurance
Onshore programming and vendors open at 5:30 pm
Saturday, October 5
Full Lighting – Flames of Hope: A Celebration of Life™
Sunset (6:19 pm)- 10:00 pm
Supported by Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation
Onshore programming and vendors open at 5:00 pm
Saturday, November 2
Full Lighting – WaterFire’s Salute to Veterans
Sunset (5:38 pm) – 10:00 pm
Supported by General Dynamics Electric Boat with additional support by BuildSubmarines.com and the site’s owners, BlueForge Alliance
Onshore programming and vendors open at 4:30 pm
* There will be limited vendors and other onshore programming at our July 4 lighting as it is taking place on a weekday. There will also be no Brazier Society Reception on July 4.
Your support of WaterFire Providence is more vital now than ever!
This page is the most up-to-date event schedule resource.
- 2024 WaterFire Season Schedule Printable Version
- Get the 2024 WaterFire Season Schedule in iCal format.
- Stay tuned! Thank you for your ongoing support.
- Full Lighting vs. Partial Lighting – What’s the difference?
Learn more:
- WaterFire Arts Center Events
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Prior Year’s WaterFire Schedules
- Sponsorship Opportunities
- About WaterFire
Upcoming Starts at Sunset Events
Starts At Sunset is a community gathering on the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Pedestrian Bridge supported by the Providence Tourism Council (PTC).
Celebrate at WaterFire
Proposals, anniversaries, date nights. Make memories at WaterFire.
Sign up for our newsletter to get schedule updates and other WaterFire news in your inbox!
2024 WaterFire Lightings At A Glance
Thanks to our 2024 WaterFire Season Supporters
State of Rhode Island, Governor Daniel J. McKee; Rhode Island Commerce; The City of Providence, Mayor Brett Smiley; The Providence City Council; The Rhode Island General Assembly; Representative Scott A. Slater; Providence Tourism Council; Rhode Island State Council of the Arts; Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau; Always Learning Rhode Island in celebration of Learn365RI; American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds; Amica Insurance; Rhode Island School of Design; Bank of America; General Dynamics Electric Boat; Blueforge Alliance; Bank Newport; IGT; Red Bull; Cox Business; Dunkin’; Fidelity Investments; Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation; Manchester Street Station; Day of Portugal; igus; Rhode Island Department of Education; RI Energy; Textron Charitable Trust; Cox Media; Cumulus Media; iHeartMedia, Inc.; Rhode Island Monthly; The Providence Journal; WPRI 12 & FOX Providence & The Rhode Show; JP Morgan Chase & Co.; AJT Supplies; Cirque De Light; Escape Rhode Island; Fire Works Catering; Gooseneck Vineyards; McLaughlin & Moran; Golden Gate Studios; Ocean State Rental; R1 Indoor Karting Entertainment Center; Stanley Tree Service, Inc; and United Site Services Northeast.
WaterFire Lighting Lingo Explained
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). Full lightings include onshore programming such as performance stages, art and food vendors, and the Starry, Starry Night installation in Memorial Park.
Basin Lightings include the circle of twenty-two braziers in the Waterplace Park Basin and the eight braziers leading up to the Providence Place Mall.
Partial Lightings can include braziers in any section of the river. Examples include a Memorial Park Lighting which would include the 12 wall-mounted braziers in Memorial Park or a Basin to Steeple Street Lighting which would include all the braziers in Waterplace Park as well as the braziers in the two downstream sections of the installations ending at the Steeple Street Bridge. Typically Partial Lightings of WaterFire do not include onshore programming or food vendors unless otherwise noted.
As additional financial support is secured, WaterFire will announce additional lightings and programming – check back for updates here and on our Facebook page and Twitter account.
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 $149 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.
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 becoming a WaterFire Sponsor.
Fire marshal regulations do not permit folding chairs to be set up on any of the riverwalks to ensure 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.
I am trying to plan a trip to Providence this spring. Is there a date for a “main event” for Water/Fire? I want to optimize the experience for myself and my friends. I first heard about Water/Fire Providence RI from YANKEE on PBS and new I right away I had to see it in person!
Hi Jenda, depends on when in the Spring you plan to visit. We’re planning to a few smaller events in April and May with our first Full Lighting of the season on June 1 (RISD Commencement). At this time we do not have any event dates fully confirmed. Thank you for your support and patience.
Do you have the September dates planned for 2024 yet. When do you anticipate releasing the schedule
Hi Jessica, the 2024 season will be announced on April 18th at WaterFire Day!
Will there be an event the weekend of May 18th?
Hi Dana, we do not have an event planned for that date.
All the best, Tim
Could you do an event Memorial Day Weekend for Brown’s commencement?
Hi Abby,
Good question. The short answer is “it depends.”
The longer answer is that most of the time our event schedule is determined by factors that we don’t totally control. Each year we start our season schedule by first looking at tide charts and identifying all of the “good” dates for a WaterFire lighting. Due to the tidal nature of the Providence river we need high tides between certain levels to accommodate our fire tending boats, both to set up the event and then light/feed the fires from sunset until the end of the event. We then take that list of good dates and working with sponsors and partners we identify funding sources that will pay for each event.
So we can only produce a WaterFire lighting on a certain date if both the tides/weather and funding sources line up.
For many years the Memorial Day weekend had been the unofficial start of WaterFire season, but in that past few years we haven’t secured funding for an event that weekend. We won’t have all of our 2024 season schedule confirmed until we announce our schedule on April 18th on WaterFire Day, but right now it does not look like we’ll be doing a lighting that weekend.
Looking to plan a weekend in august would it be assumed event for weekends then?
Hi Glori, yes Full Lightings are typically on Saturdays. We’re likely to have one or two lightings in August.
Please send me the 2024 schedule for the waterfire in Providence
Thank you.
Hi Louise, the 2024 season schedule will be announce on Thursday, April 18 at WaterFire Day. You can sign up for a our newsletter or stay tuned to this space for details.
Any dates for June 2024 yet? I’ll be up with my grandkids 6/4-17 and would love for them to experience it!
Not yet. Stay tuned! See our note at the top of the page regarding the schedule announcement.
How about May 11? anything going on at waterfire??
We’re looking a doing a Basin Lighting on the 11th. It will be in partnership with the “Learn 365 RI” convention.
Waiting to hear more about 5/11 Waterfire event! Have family coming in and the next day is Mothers’ Day!
Exciting! Details for this and our other scheduled lightings will be posted on April 18th.
Any shows April 30 or May 1
We do not have anything planned for those dates at this time.
Will WaterFire be available the week of April 20 to April ? We are coming for the week. Thanks so much
Hi Roberta, unfortunately we do not have any events schedule that week.
I get your texts and I just got the 2024 schedule. How do I tell whether the kayaks will be parading, like they were in August of 2022?
Thanks, and I hope you have a wonderful season.
Kate
Hi Kate, we’re still working to confirm that date. Stay tuned!
When are the kyacks allowed to go out
We’ll be announcing the date of our Clear Currents Community Paddling night later this spring. Stay tuned (we’re working to secure funding to announce additional lighting dates).
WaterFire 2025 Schedule???
Hello,
I would like to plan a trip for a group of approx.. 20 – 30 people to go to WaterFire 2025.
Is there any information on the dates for WaterFire in 2025 yet?
If not when would the dates be available?
Where should I look for the 2025 dates?
Thank you for your time.
Hi Elaine, at this point you’re going to need a time machine to locate the 2025 season schedule. Typically each season schedule is not published until the spring of the year in question. You can follow up with Kristina McKenzie in our operations department, they may have some “good tide” dates in 2025 on which we’d potentially schedule lightings, but fair warning that any of those date would be hypothetical right now.
Hello-
I was wondering if you can see the fireworks on July 4th from WaterFire? I want to do a boat tour at 8:25pm and would also like to see the fireworks.
Thanks,
Grismaldy
The City of Providence’s fireworks display will be on July 2nd. So at this time there will no fireworks during the WaterFire lighting on July 4th.
What exactly is a “partial lighting” ??? Do you not get the full experience ? Is there food/drinks etc?? We have never been and don’t know if it’s worth going with partial lighting so trying to find out what that means. Thank you
Partial lightings are smaller, typically only one section of the river is lit, and do not include any or include only a small portion of our onshore programming. There is more info about the different types of lightings on our schedule page.