(7.30) The Providence Fringe Festival is hosting an afternoon of family fun — Family Fringe — at Riverside Park in Olneyville. I hesitated at first to use this image, worried that the shell of the old Riverside Mills building might seem a little sketchy as the backdrop of a family fun day. But the old pile is off to the side and its crumbling beauty enhances the view while serving up some local industrial history. (However, if anyone wants to save this thing, go right ahead. Check out the brickwork patterns being used on a factory building.) And I love this fence.
And continue just past the fence and the view opens onto a wide grassy expanse running along a leafy riverside oasis complete with waterfall and fish ladder (see below). Great blue herons and snowy egrets occasionally stop by the Woonasquatucket River; helpful park signage explains which fish use the ladder and what wildlife can be found in a wetlands. Only the muted sound of traffic whizzing by on Route 6 reminds you — this is right off of Olneyville Square! (The bike path goes through here as well. Cllick for a map of the Greenway.)
So what is on tap this Saturday for Family Fringe? Dance, music, improv, hip hop, a poetry slam, the Manton Avenue Project, and a scavenger hunt.
We’ve got outdoor performances, food trucks, workshops, parades – anything and everything, for audiences of all ages! Bring your family, a lawn chair and some sunscreen for an afternoon of fun! All of our Family Fringe events are 100% free!
Free, 1pm to 4:30pm, Saturday, July 30, Riverside Park, 50 Aleppo Street, Olneyville (directions)
Riverside Park is on the Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway.
