Who says fire and water don’t mix? Not the city of Providence, Rhode Island. On July 9th, my daughter and I happened to be there during WaterFire, a free summer arts festival along the three rivers of downtown Providence, and we were excited to attend.

What is WaterFire? On designated Saturday evenings, more than 80 braziers in the rivers are ceremonially lit by a “ringmaster” in a boat, aided by a team of volunteers, and the bonfires burn until midnight. Here’s how it looks just after the braziers catch fire in the central basin downtown.

Spectators watch from bridges, stroll along the rivers, nosh on food and drinks from vendors, and applaud street performers spinning fire, making origami creations, and posing as living statues. Before the lighting, such performances as a bilingual Romeo and Juliet entertain an audience at an outdoor amphitheater.

During the July 9th lighting, we were lucky to catch a Clear Currents Paddle: participants in kayaks and canoes, with huge, light-up koi attached to their boats, paddled in concert around the braziers as a symphony of world music played.

It was magical.

We watched and listened for 20-30 minutes until the paddlers left the basin…

…and headed down the river…

…passing a sightseeing gondola along the way.

Some people watched from boats as the koi-kayakers paddled by.

The curving line of fiery braziers runs down the center of the river.

I couldn’t get over how cool the evening was, like an autumn evening back home in Texas. The fires and the scent of kettle corn added to the autumnal ambience.

One of the light-up fish on display…

…and glowing stars on one of the bridges.

The next full lighting at WaterFire occurs this Saturday, July 23, 2016. And the koi will “swim” again on August 20.

For a look back at my visit to the Providence-area garden of Layanee DeMerchant, who blogs at Ledge & Gardens, click here.

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