PVDFest 2025 was a step toward the festival’s roots and toward a more local foundation, a vision espoused by Lizzy Araujo Haller as the first city director of the event. “We have a small team for this, working closely with City resources and FirstWorks, but there’s no way it would be possible without all the other partners – local partners – who stepped up to make parts of this happen!” said current Providence Department of Art Culture Tourism director Joe Wilson Jr.
Highlights included the larger-than-life weirdness of returning international performance group Squonk, a robust makers market by the river, Move The Crowd performances at an outdoor stage curated by AS220. The skateboarding expo / beer-safe area in the rink sounded like a perilous combination, but seemed to work out well, even if it lacked the flexibility of city-wide permission to carry alcohol from the Elorza era; and the ice cream created for the occasion by Gather Farms Ice Cream was delicious. Like Battle of the Bands, headliner Moonlight Benjamin performed Saturday night, undaunted by the rain. While rain cut the final night short, most of the events were wrapped and packed by that point. Overall, organizers were enthusiastic about the crowds and the draw of the event. We’ll have a deeper dive when those numbers are ready. “The geographic flow worked, the vibe was outstanding, and the feedback has been tremendous,” said Wilson.