WaterFire Providence, the popular public artwork in downtown
To view some spectacular pictures of the actual event please click here!
Sixty-three, gorgeous glowing fish, organized in schools, will magically “swim” up the river of fires, symbolizing our community’s commitment to improving the water quality of our rivers and the bay. It is going to be a wonderful sight and a thrilling night to be a part of.
WaterFire will loan to experienced canoeists a 5-foot long, luminous glowing fish mounted on a bamboo pole, which will rest on a weighted plywood base on your canoe’s floor. You provide the canoe, your passion, and your expertise on the water. Each fish is constructed of a decorative, brightly-colored silk Japanese Koi arranged on a lightweight wooden framework and illuminated from the inside with LEDs.
Space is limited and canoeists must pre-register with WaterFire to participate. Check-in and outfitting starts at 5:30 pm; the fish flotillas will launch at sunset (6:45 pm); and the fires will burn from 7:15 pm to midnight. Additional information will be provided closer to the event date.
Clear Currents commemorates the first anniversary of the opening of Phase I of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement Project; an initiative that has greatly improved the water quality throughout the bay area. Just this month, the Overflow Bypass Tunnel has captured its billionth gallon of untreated sewage and prevented it from entering the
Clear Currents is sponsored by:
Narragansett Bay Commission
Louis Berger Group, Inc.
CDM
CH2M Hill
Gilbane, Inc.
Jacobs Associates
FAQ
Age & Experience Restrictions - Access to River - Times & Location - Movement & Right of Way on River - Boating Safety - How Can I Help? - Liability Waiver - How to Register - Canoes vs. Kayaks - Is there a charge to participate? - Dress - Why can’t canoeists come on their own to WaterFire? - Additional questions?
Age & Experience Restrictions
WaterFire takes place at night, in a narrow, congested waterway, with existing motorized boat traffic, three gondolas, occasional wind, and 100 live fires. There is a lot going on, so you need to be on your toes! While this is very exciting and fun, it also requires that you be fully capable of handling your boat and be respectful of the special rights of way needed to produce WaterFire. Canoeists must be of intermediate or better experience and be capable of maintaining control of their vessel. Canoeists must be 18 years of age or older.
Access to River
Access to the river will be limited to canoeists who are registered with WaterFire, participating in the Clear Currents Project and are displaying a WaterFire fish.
Times & Location
Assembly of the canoes and the mounting of the fish will take place at 5:30 p.m. on the
Movement & Right of Way on the River
The idea is for the fish to be swimming in schools, so the canoes will be organized into various small groups to form a school and should travel tightly together along the river. The canoes (as a group) must yield right of way to all other vessels on the water. Detailed instruction will be provided.
Boating Safety
Canoeists must be wearing PFDs and each canoe must have a flashlight on board. Headlamps and additional lighting are optional for outside the performance area of WaterFire, but are not to be used inside the performance area. The illuminated fish mounted on the canoes are sufficient lighting for visibility of your vessel inside the performance area. The fires and city and building lights all illuminate the water surface, so there is good nightime visability on the water. A dark visored cap may be of use to the stern paddler to sheild their eyes from the slight glare from the gently glowing fish overhead, mounted behind the front paddler.
How Can I Help?
In addition to joining us at the fire with your canoe, we would love your help assembling the fish. WaterFire is made possible by the hard work and dedication of hundreds of volunteers. Please join us as we help to make the fish for your debut.
Liability Waiver
A standard signed WaterFire waiver form is required for all volunteers at WaterFire, including canoeists and other who participate. Participants will receive an electronic copy of the waiver upon registration. Completed waivers should be mailed or faxed to WaterFire:
Mail: WaterFire
Fax: (401) 331-3624
How to Register
To register to join us and help create Clear Currents please email us at clearcurrents@waterfire.org. Please include in your email:
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your name
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email address
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phone number
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the names of your party
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the length and color of your canoe
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if you can help us organize the event or fabricate the fish
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the names of other canoeists you may wish to be grouped with
Canoes vs. Kayaks
The fish are mounted from 5 to 7 feet above the water and weigh about 6 pounds. They also present significant cross-sectional area (5 SF) and thus have the potential to act as a sail. Both of these factors can induce a rolling motion to the canoe. After testing it was decided that safety requires that this project be focused on the more stable profile of a canoe.
We have since tested a single fish on several kayaks and determined that some kayaks can carry a fish as long as the kayak meets the following requirements. We still recommend canoes.
1. It should be a wide, stable kayak. Narrow sea kayaks are not sufficiently stable.
2. It must have a flat space on the floor of the kayak where the base for the fish can be placed. This base is a 12" square and has a half cinder block placed on it, to hold it in place. There are two possible places where the base can be placed:
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In a kayak with a large cockpit opening the base can be placed near the front of the cockpit between your legs. This only works if the cockpit is long enough that the base can be far enough ahead of you to not interfere with paddling.
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A second option is to place the base in the after-hatch. This only works if the hatch opening is large enough to accept a 12" square base (it can be slide in at an angle) and if the bottom of the kayak is reasonably flat inside the hatch so the base has a place to sit.
If you are interested in using a kayak please email us this information when you register. Also let us know what make and model of kayak you will be using and where you plan to place the base for the fish. We will review this information and get back to you.
Is there a charge to participate?
This event is offered for free by WaterFire. WaterFire believes in presenting public art for free. There are however significant costs involved with producing WaterFire and Clear Currents and we encourage participants to donate to WaterFire to help keep the fires burning.
Dress
We are inviting you to be a performer on the water in the midst of WaterFire as part of a new art piece on the water. For the best visual effect, canoeists should wear black or very dark clothes, of cotton or natural materials (non flammable). A large or extra large black cotton t-shirt worn over your PFD would be ideal. The idea is to have a visual dialog between the colors of your canoes and the colors of the fish, but to have all the people on board to be dressed in black, including hats, scarves, etc. Please keep extra materials in your canoe out of sight.
Why can’t canoeists come on their own to WaterFire?
WaterFire takes place on the
Additional questions?
Please email us at clearcurrents@waterfire.org. We will continue to update this page as information develops.