WaterFire Providence

On New Year's Eve 1994, Barnaby Evans lit 11 braziers on the Providence River and called it First Fire. Thirty years later, WaterFire has grown to 86 burning braziers floating above the Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck, and Providence rivers, drawing average crowds of 40,000 a night. Evans created it as a free public installation, and free it remains — a nonprofit operation running on staff of about 15 and up to 160 volunteers per lighting. The season runs May through November, scheduled around sunset and incoming tides.