WaterFire

Particularly during summer, much of downtown Providence transforms into a carnivalesque festival thanks to an exceedingly popular public art installation called WaterFire (401-401-272-3111; www.waterfire.com). At this event, 100 flaming braziers anchored into the city's rivers illuminate the water, viewed by thousands of pedestrians strolling on bridges and finely landscaped riverside parks.

All the gazing and making out is accompanied by live (and canned) music, outdoor stages hosting theatrical performances, public ballroom dancing (you can join in) and a few ostentatious gondolas that drift by the pyres. Even cynical readers will have to admit the spectacle is both charming and good-looking, though all that overt romance has been known to arch a few eyebrows.

WaterFire occurs about 15 times a year from May to October and begins at sunset. Occasionally there's a lighting around Christmas or the New Year.