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Kansas City, MO. -- Imagine a unique, multi-sensory experience of music, fire and water, unlike anything ever seen in Kansas City. Eighty-five floating bonfires set ablaze on the surface of Kansas City’s Brush Creek, creating firelight that illuminates the surrounding landscape. Melodic music plays as spectators stroll along the waterline. Welcome to WaterFire Kansas City!
The award-winning art experience will premiere in Kansas City on two Saturdays this fall, Sept. 8 and Oct. 13. WaterFire was originally created by Barnaby Evans in 1994 on the three rivers of downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The living fire sculpture has become a signature event for the city, attracting more than 10 million visitors and drawing praise as a moving symbol of Providence’s renaissance.
"We’re ecstatic to join the short list of American cities to host this moving experience,” Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association President Rick Hughes said. "Our entire community looks forward to expanding WaterFire into a major local event in the coming years."
WaterFire will begin at sunset and run until midnight, with continuous music and sidewalk entertainment provided by Vesuvius fire dancers, "A Night of Song" ensemble from the Lyric Opera and the internationally acclaimed group Quixotic Performance Fusion. WaterFire Kansas City will stretch along Brush Creek from Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street.
The event begins with a series of boats that travel along Brush Creek through the darkness. They make their way with torches aflame in an enchanting display to ignite the braziers and bring all 85 pieces to life. Throughout the evening, boats return to the braziers, constantly feeding them with new wood and keeping the sculpture in its original form for the duration of the evening.
This powerful visual is reinforced by the fragrant scent of aromatic wood smoke, the flickering firelight on the anchored bridges, the silhouettes of the fire-tenders passing by the flames, the torch-lit vessels traveling down the creek, and the enchanting music composed by students from the UMKC Conservatory. Food will be available for purchase from three Plaza restaurants -- The Capital Grille, Brio Tuscan Grille, and Plaza III, The Steakhouse.
For more information about WaterFire Kansas City, go to VisitKC.com/waterfire or call 816-221-5242.
About the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association
The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to enhance economic growth and quality of life for the region and its residents through marketing, sales and service for the convention and tourism industries. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site at VisitKC.com.
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Photo Credit: Photos Courtesy of the Kansas City Convention
& Visitors Association
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