I have been attending WaterFire since my freshman year at Brown, twelve years ago. Sometimes, a large group of us (20 or more) would get together in costumes and masks and make our way down to WaterFire to entertain ourselves and all the others who enjoy spectacles.

I still live in Providence and I love the evenings in which I can smell the woodsmoke on the breeze and I can hear the faint echo of music through the night’s silence. My husband and I will often make our way down to the burning fires and I am amazed each time at how this event has grown over the years from a few people enjoying the fires to crowds and vendors and a sense of carnival every time the fires are lit.

You have done an amazing job and Providence would be much lessened without these gatherings which bring us together at night as a community.

– Michelle Denault