This is WaterFire’s second season partnering with The Map Center! As WaterFire visitors come by the WaterFire Marketplace on Canal Street they are able to put a colored pin on a map of where they are from. These maps are sorted by the East Coast, the United States and the World. Our visitors have the opportunity to choose their pin’s color based on how many times they have visited WaterFire or if WaterFire was the reason they are visiting Providence. The results from each WaterFire show how many people from all over the World and the U.S. come to see this event.
The colored pins are divided into two sections (with three choices of colors for each):
Overnight visitors
- Red pin if WaterFire was the reason for your trip
- Rose pin if WaterFire was amongst the reasons for your trip
- Pink pin if you did not know about WaterFire until today
Day-trippers/locals
- White pin for first time visitor of WaterFire
- Grey pin if you visited WaterFire several times
- Black pin if you visited WaterFire too many times to count!
“I didn’t realize how many people come from different countries…I thought it was just going to be Rhode Islanders. I was even able to talk with a family from Brazil!”
Angelica Clark who is the Social Media and Audience Management intern worked at The Map Center tent for the first full WaterFire of the season (June 22).
- June 22: Most out of country visitors came from Asia (86 pins)
- June 22: There was 17 red pins on Indonesia
- June 22: Most visitors came from New England
- June 22: There were 346 visitors from countries other than the U.S.
- June 22: 1,164 visitors that pinned where they were from the June 22 WaterFire
- July 20: There was 195 visitors from other than the United States
- July 20: The top state visitors were from was Massachusetts
- July 20: Top country visitors were from (other than the United States) was India
- July 20: Most of the out of country visitors came from Europe
- July 20: 823 visitors that pinned where they were from at the July 20 WaterFire
At our latest WaterFire (July 20) I had the ability to work at The Map Center tent, and it was very interesting to see where everyone is coming from. Some visitors from around the world specifically came to Providence for the WaterFire. Many people came to The Map Tent to see if anyone else is from the same area that they are. At one point people from the same town or country would be at The Map Tent during the same time!
About the author
My name is Amanuela Gjergji and I am a senior at Coventry High School. For the summer I am a Creative Services intern at WaterFire. I am excited to be apart of WaterFire and gain so many new experiences!
