From yoga on the Quiet Green to a lecture with actress and author Gwyneth Paltrow P’28, this year’s Family Weekend offers parents and family members a variety of unique experiences. But one of the weekend’s most anticipated traditions — the Brown-sponsored Family Weekend WaterFire — will not be returning this year.
The change is due to “ongoing expense reductions at the University,” Director of Parent and Family Engagement Mikele St-Germain wrote in an email to The Herald.
“While we’ve been delighted to sponsor WaterFire in some recent years, this requires a significant financial investment,” St-Germain wrote. “In a year in which the impacts of federal actions on Brown’s budget have prompted measures as significant as layoffs and position eliminations, departments across campus are needing to make difficult but necessary decisions to help prioritize our core mission of education and research.”
Meena Khan P’28, said she was “very disappointed” when she checked the Family Weekend schedule only to find no announcement of WaterFire on the list of planned events.
Since Khan was unable to come for Family Weekend last year, she was looking forward to attending the event for the first time this year.
“In anticipation, I had even made dinner reservations that would not conflict with it happening,” Khan added.
Lisa Weiss P’27 and her family have attended Family Weekend WaterFire for the past two years and it was “one of the highlights of the weekend,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.
“This year, we are bringing family members who have not seen WaterFire before, and I am very disappointed they will miss seeing it,” Weiss added.
“We put a lot of thought into planning a weekend filled with programming that offers something for everyone and showcases the beauty of our campus,” St-Germain wrote. She pointed to the 135 events on this year’s Family Weekend schedule, including sports events, student performances, academic forums and a silent disco on the Main Green.
While Weiss appreciates the University’s work in organizing Family Weekend, she wrote that WaterFire is “unique and irreplaceable.” She added that there could have been ways to reduce expenses for the event without cutting it entirely, such as opting not to include a food-and-drink tent at the festival or sponsoring a partial lighting instead of a full lighting.
WaterFire Providence and Brown have shared a partnership for the Family Weekend event for many years, according to WaterFire Director of Sponsorship and Corporate Relations Kelly Pattison. She added that as a “small nonprofit arts organization,” WaterFire depends on sponsorships to ensure that its events are free to the public.
“We understand that many organizations are navigating funding challenges this year,” Pattison wrote in an email to The Herald. “Brown’s Family Weekend has always been one of our favorite events, and we hope to see this great tradition return in the future.”
Julia Moon ’26 said that she was surprised to learn that the University would not be sponsoring a Family Weekend WaterFire this year, noting that “they usually try to pull out all the stops” for the weekend.
“My mom really likes it,” Moon said. “I know she was really looking forward to going to WaterFire when she came.”
Chloe Chow ’26 said that she has attended Family Weekend WaterFire every year she has been at Brown, and was also surprised that it was not happening this year.
“I feel like it’s an iconic Providence event,” Chow said.
Khan said that she and her family may consider visiting Providence another weekend instead of Family Weekend next year just to see WaterFire.
“I hear it’s pretty cool and pretty magical,” Khan said. “I would love to see it at some point.”
Weiss emphasized that she hopes that the University will decide to sponsor future WaterFire given its popularity among Family Weekend attendees.
“Unlike many of the other Family Weekend events that only appeal to some attendees, WaterFire is a universally loved tradition,” she wrote. “Some families travel great distances to attend Family Weekend and this is their one and only time all year to experience WaterFire.”
Sophia Wotman is a University news editor covering activism and affinity & identity. She is a senior from Long Island, New York concentrating in political science with a focus on women’s rights. She is a jazz trumpet player, and often performs on campus and around Providence.
