click image to enlarge
Our Artisan Marketplace is a Showcase of Talent in 2023!
WaterFire Sharon prides itself on striving to bring professional art market vendors and high-quality works of art to our marketplace. Our talented artisans are natural creatives who make amazing handmade fine art. Whether it’s a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, pottery, woodworking, glass or fiber art, painting, photography, or mixed media piece – we have it all, in all price ranges – we know you will find the perfect item while walking the streets of beautiful downtown Sharon during WaterFire.
This Saturday you’ll find artisan tents full of beautiful and unique items. Talk to the artists to learn more about their processes, watch their live demonstrations and support our artists by selecting a handmade original piece to add to your home or give as a gift. Look for BowerHouse Creations, based in Meadville, PA. Tom and Tina Bowersox create wire-wrapped jewelry, wired-trees with gemstones, and wired-home decor. And you will love the spray paint art of Charli Cupan! Stop by her booth on the corner of Chestnut and State St. for demonstrations of her talent all day.
Children’s Fun Zone – 3-7pm
Be sure to bring the kids to the Children’s Fun Zone, located at the corner of Shenango Ave. and State St., directly under the American Flag. There will be lots of interactive projects, crafts, games, giant legos, music wall, robotics and so much more. Parents need to stay with their children. This is a non-smoking zone.
The Sharon Tiger Techs and the Sharon High School Robotics Team showcasing various types of robots. The Tiger Techs will be demonstrating their robots that draw artwork, will have robots that children can drive, and will also have a programming station for ages 7-14. The Sharon High School Robotics Team will have an area demonstrating their high school robot from this past year. Children and adults alike will have the opportunity to see robots in action, built and programmed from students from the Sharon City School District.
Food Court – 2-10pm
Our evening will begin with the Native American Blessing of the Shenango River by Leon Briggs followed by the lighting of the WaterFire Sharon PA orb along with 55 floating bonfires filled with pine on the river between Connelly Blvd. and E. Silver St. Enjoy the aroma, live entertainment and music on the river until 10pm. Be sure to bring a chair and stay awhile!!
River Festivities – 7:00pm
Our evening will begin with the Native American Blessing of the Shenango River by Leon Briggs followed by the lighting of the WaterFire Sharon PA orb along with 55 floating bonfires filled with pine on the river between Connelly Blvd. and E. Silver St. Enjoy the aroma, live entertainment and music on the river until 11pm. Be sure to bring a chair and stay awhile!!
Leon Briggs:
Leon Sam Briggs, is an enrolled Tonawanda Seneca whose native name is H oya’degay hus, “he helps always” hawk clan. In 2004, he was ordained as a spiritual leader of the American Metis Aboriginal Association. He works in traditional Arts of beading, quill and leather work. He speaks on his traditional teachings in herbology, (focused native uses of plants), and works as a cultural consulting. He has made annual trips to Little Eagle, South Dakota to meet with the community and government leaders as a cultural lea son, participate in events and ceremonies, such as Peace Place powwow to support local efforts to start building the Little Eagle Community Center. He has participated as guest speaker on Native American culture, storyteller, environmental impact on indigenous plants at various events including Native American Awareness Week at the University of Dayton, and Sunwatch Village, since 2007.
Making Relations another gathering of communities for the exchange of cultures (Little Eagle and Eagle Butte, South Dakota, since 2009) and Native Peoples Celebrate the Peacemakers, University of Dayton. Leon is a consultant/ speaker with the Red Bird Center whose mission is to support the Healing and Unity of Native Families in Ohio. The Center specializes in assisting families in recovery from trauma and loss. Leon is a presenter at the Red Bird Center’s Annual Native Unity Gathering which focuses on the “Indigenous Healing Model” that restores the spirit and brings unity and connection within Native Communities. The Red Bird Center has been in operation since 1997 and is a Native non-profit organization. Making Relations another gathering of communities for the exchange of cultures (Little Eagle and Eagle Butte, South Dakota, since 2009) and Native Peoples Celebrate the Peacemakers, University of Dayton. He is a consultant/ speaker with the Red Bird Center whose mission is to support the Healing and Unity of Native Families in Ohio. The Center specializes in assisting families in recovery from trauma and loss. Leon is a presenter at the Red Bird Center’s Annual Native Unity Gathering which focuses on the “Indigenous Healing Model” that restores the spirit and brings unity and connection within Native Communities. The Red Bird Center has been in operation since 1997 and is a Native non-profit organization.
River Festivities – 7:00pm
Dan Hogan and Brianna Bojewski
Dan Hogan and Brianna Bojewski have performed throughout western Pennsylvania together since 2013, including previous appearances at WaterFire.
Brianna has been sharing her gifted voice in public since her childhood In Fairview (Erie County). Dan taught music for 31 years, but didn’t start performing solos and duets until entering a vocal competition sponsored by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in 2012.
Their music can be sampled at DanHoganSings.com.
Jimmy Pyro:
Jimmy Pyro has always been drawn to the power and sound of fire, which he uses to captivate his audience with explosive and dramatic performances. Jimmy is a born thrill seeker and a natural entertainer. He is completely self-taught and enjoys learning new skills and adding new and exciting stunts to his repertoire. Jimmy Pyro has been professionally performing for 10 years and has entertained over 270,000 people. He will leave you talking for years to come and a memory you will never forget. Jimmy Pyro will perform several times throughout the evening. Watch for Jimmy on a boat on the river, the bridge abutment and on the State St. bridge.
Main Stage Entertainment presented by The Winner Family Foundation
The Hern Brothers – 4-7pm
The Hern Brothers have performed for thousands of fans over a 40-year span! The band formed in 1980 and has performed shows non-stop to today! The bands show incorporates a wide variety of music from the Rock eras of the 70’s 80’s 90’s to the popular music of today! Included in every Hern Brothers performance is an extremely popular dance set of Funk & Disco music!
Grant Street Exit – 8-10pm
Enjoy a great mix of blues, swing, rock and contemporary presented by the Grant Street Exit band!
Diehl Automotive Touch-a-Truck – 3-7pm
Enjoy the opportunity to see the Myron’s Meal Mobile up close! The Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County will have this colorful, fun bus on display for all to enjoy. Large farm equipment, large construction vehicles, semi-trucks and so much more! Join us between Water St. and Main Ave.!
The Twirling Angels – 3:30-4:30pm
The Twirling Angels are a baton twirling group that train out of Sharpsville Pa. Missy Colbert started the group back in 1999 with just a small parade group and the group has now flourished into 100+ individual students along with many teams. Both the team and individual twirlers compete all year round. Each twirler performing here today is part of a state, regional or international champion team. Many of our twirlers also twirl for their high schools and colleges. We have members from age 3 all the way up to 21.
Ukuladies Gone Wild – 4:30-6:30pm
A group of high energy, kinda wild gals, who love our ukes and get a kick out of making music together! We’ve been playing together since 2019. It has been our pleasure to have performed at the Penn State Shenango University Earth Fest, Hermitage Buhl Day, Sharon Water Fire, Villa Maria Community Center, Maennerchor Club, and numerous local organizations and events.
Downtown Art Installations:
Take time to visit all the inspiring art installations throughout downtown Sharon. You can walk your way from the Literary Garden at the Shenango Valley Library, to Random InterFace Alley, to Floral Garden Gallery located on Connelly Blvd. to Riverview Gardens Park to enjoy Willow Way and five wood cravings from ash trees. A must see is the HopeCAT Mural located along State St. World renowned mural artist, Joel Bergner, HopeCAT students, local artists and Park Inn by Radisson employees came together to create this one-of-a-kind work of art!
Don’t Miss the Sharon Historical Society Walking Tours – 12pm, 2pm & 4pm
Join the Sharon Historical Society for our Downtown Sharon History Walks during WaterFire Sharon. We will focus on part of North Sharon, an area not covered before! Stops to include Gamble School (now Salvation Army), Oakwood Cemetery, St. John’s Ukranian Orthodox Church, neighborhood bars and stores, and Sharon’s Westinghouse Electric Corp. – Transformer Division plant.
Rare photographs and interesting stories will be printed in our collectible booklet! Walks will begin at 12:00 pm/Noon, 2:00 pm, and 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 16, 2023 during WaterFire Sharon. These are FREE and OPEN TO ALL!! Donations are appreciated!! The meeting location will be announced closer to the date.
Tag up!!
Take selfies and be sure to check in on social media while you enjoy your day and evening at WaterFire Sharon. A check-in on social helps our downtown merchants with visibility and draws more attention to their key presence in the growing vibrancy along the river! Share what you see and enjoy your day in beautiful downtown Sharon. Use our hashtags when you share your fun photos and selfies on social! Hashtag so we can see all the memories you make at! And we might collect a few of our favorites to share on our social profiles.
Ready to Volunteer a few hours to keep the event going?
Have you seen enough to make you want to join in? We welcome new volunteers! Come alone, in a group, whatever works for you! Whether you want to help in the preparation and planning, help set up vendors, work at the information center, tend to the braziers during the evening, or a variety of other areas to lend a hand, WaterFire Sharon would be happy to have you join in. Our volunteers are known to say things like “I met so many new people and made so many new friends” and “It’s fun to be a part of something so big!” and of course “I’m always proud to see so many people come to our area and witness what we have going on here.” Maybe you’ll feel just that same way after experiencing WaterFire as a volunteer. Sign up for the next WaterFire event at the Souvenir and Information center located at the corner of West State Street and S. Water Avenue – in front of the food court. Ask questions and see what you may enjoy the most! If you can’t visit the booth, call our volunteer coordinator at (724) 301-1868 and Karen will be happy to fill you in on all the opportunities available to be a part of WaterFire.
