City prepares as PVDFest returns to Kennedy Plaza

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The City of Providence is getting ready for one of its yearly celebrations to wrap up the summer, PVDFest.

Mayor Brett Smiley joining the team at FirstWorks Wednesday to kick off the event in front of one of the city’s newest murals, highlighting the importance of art in this year’s festivities.

“The cornerstone of this festival are our local creatives and how we celebrate our local makers, our local art festivals,” Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism Director Joe Wilson, Jr. said. “But more importantly, our local performing artists and visual artists. They are at the bedrock of this creative capital, and to have them on showcase for the weekend is really what PVDFest is about.”

The main festivities begin on Sept. 6, with the festival lasting from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and picking back up from noon to 8 p.m. on Sept. 7.

The city also has a rain date set for Sept. 8 in case of inclement weather.

“Our forecasts are that we will not be using the rain date, we’ll make that confirmation later in the week,” Smiley said. “But the forecast looks great for Friday night, and looks good for Saturday. There may be a passing sprinkle,  but that’s nothing that will cause us to cancel or move to the rain date.”

The festival is also returning to its original location, Kennedy Plaza, after spending a year down by the water.

“This festival, over the course of 10 years, has changed,” Wilson said. “It’s taken many forms and so last year took a particular form and shape, and this year we’re back to its original footprint. That has been in the history of PVDFest; there’s always been changes, we’ve tried different things.”

The return comes with a range of street closures and no parking zones that begin at 5 a.m. on Sept. 4.

Exchange Street will have one lane between Washington Street and Fulton Street starting that morning, and will be fully closed through the weekend.

A full list of street closure can be found here.