Designed by award-winning artist Barnaby Evans, WaterFire Kansas City is a unique, multi-sensory experience of music, fire and water. The moving art installation features more than 55 floating bonfires on Brush Creek. This year's event will be held Saturday, October 25.

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.

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 55 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 . Food will be available for purchase from Plaza restaurants.

Planning Information

• Date: Saturday, October 25
• Time: 6:25 to midnight
• Location: Brush Creek on the Country Club Plaza
• Entertainment: View Live Performance Schedule

Food Booths

• Brio Tuscan Grille, The Capital Grille, Plaza III, The Steakhouse and Houstons will set up food booths along the WaterFire route.

Music & Dance

• The fires will be set to music. Local performing arts companies including Vesuvius fire dancers, “Night of Song” ensemble from the Lyric Opera and Quixotic Performance Fusion will perform. View Live Performance Schedule

Rain Date 

• If there is a forecast for rain on Saturday, October 25th, the rain date of Saturday, November 1, 2008 will be in effect.

WaterFire Map

Help a worthy cause at WaterFire

M&I Bank and Harvesters will join together on Make A Difference Day, Saturday, Oct. 25, at WaterFire Kansas City from 5:30 to 10 p.m., to collect food and money to help fight hunger throughout the Kansas City community. M&I will be collecting food and money prior to and during WaterFire at the M&I Bank tent on Ward Parkway (near Function Junction) and also at the M&I Bank Plaza branch parking lot (located at 800 W. 47^th Street). Free parking and shuttle service to Brush Creek will be provided at the M&I Bank Plaza branch for those who donate to Harvesters. For those not able to attend, please visit the M&I Bank Virtual Food Drive at www.mibank.harvesters.org.

Photos Courtesy: Jenny Wheat