East Providence Arts Council presents 'the looff' festival

Second annual event takes place Saturday, Aug. 20

By Mike Rego
Posted 8/17/16

EAST PROVIDENCE — When the second annual "the looff" festival kicks off this weekend, it will be bigger and should be better, as will the members of the East Providence Arts Council be better …

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East Providence Arts Council presents 'the looff' festival

Second annual event takes place Saturday, Aug. 20

Arts Council members Courtney Rook-Repoza and Rick Lawson ready for the second presentation of  'the looff' festival Saturday.
Arts Council members Courtney Rook-Repoza and Rick Lawson ready for the second presentation of 'the looff' festival Saturday.
Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — When the second annual "the looff" festival kicks off this weekend, it will be bigger and should be better, as will the members of the East Providence Arts Council be better prepared for the undertaking.

Last summer, the first "looff" was certainly a success but a bit of a surprise to the organizers, who gathered dozens of local artisans from a wide variety of disciplines showing their wears to over 1,000 patrons. This Saturday, Aug. 20, "the looff" has expanded in size and scope in just about every way, which is something committee members this time planned for from the outset. The fest runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the grounds of Larisa Park and the Crescent Park/Looff Carousel in the Riverside section of the city.

"We were absolutely shocked," admitted festival director and arts council vice chairwoman Courtney Rook-Repoza about the first "looff." "It said 169 people were interested on social media and then we looked around and there was no parking. People couldn't park for like a mile down the road. And the park was just filled, which was awesome to see. And this year, we already have like 540 people interested, so we're kind of really excited about that. We have more than double the food trucks. We had three last year. We have seven this year. We also have kettle corn and ice cream. We weren't expecting the crowd we had last year and some of them ran out of food."

Added arts council chairman Rick Lawson, "The surprise last year was we never put on a festival. We had no idea what we were doing. And we said, let's just do it. And so we just did and people came. It just showed people in this area love to get together and celebrate."

The council members spoke earlier this week about the festival near the Larisa Park band shell abutting Narragansett Bay, which had just been sanded and cleaned by city Public Works employees and where groups will perform all day long. The music is one of the aspects used to differentiate "the looff" from other like events around the state.

"We wanted to separate from the other arts festivals," Mr. Lawson explained. "You go to Wickford, and it's awesome, but we wanted to be more of a celebration. We wanted something catching everyone's eye every time you turn around. So we brought in Big Nazo, belly dancers. This year we're going with a Sinatra tribute. We have the Oh No's, a Beatles tribute band. Renditions is a three-piece acoustic band, and they are phenomenal. And right here in East Providence is the Rhode Island Philharmonic School, so we have the youth string ensemble performing. We added the Monroe Dairy Marching Milkmen Band this year…Look at this backdrop. How perfect is this?"

Said Ms. Rook-Repoza, "We had a bride who came here last year to take pictures. We felt bad, but you see everything at the looff. People even get married here."

The "something for everyone" theme is wedded to the festival, which has become the centerpiece of the arts council's mission.

"You look around Rhode Island you have Scituate, you have Wickford and then when this arts council started in 2014 Courtney and I said we need that tent pole event. We need something to rally around," Mr. Lawson said. "So we said let's do a festival. So just through word of mouth, talking to people, through social media, people said yes, yes, yes, that would be great. And they proved it by showing up."

Arrive they did indeed for the first "looff," not only in body but also in the spirit the organizers hoped would embody the event.

"It showed you can have a mix of serious art and fun things like Big Nazo. Not that it's not serious art, but it's inclusive to everybody," Ms. Rook-Repoza said. "So someone who might be nervous or intimidated about seeing fine paintings and museum quality work, here there's something for everyone to see and hear and do. They feel included. It's about connecting art and the community and this is the best way we've found so far to do it."

Added Mr. Lawson, "Let's make sure we give something for everybody. We want to be eclectic. We want to be different."

"the looff" at its core, they say, is about celebrating the diversity of East Providence while giving local artists and residents a dedicated date to come together.

"We want people to come here and spend time. Spend time in Riverside. Spend time in East Providence. Create that feeling of community," Ms. Rook-Repoza said. "Our sports teams are great. Our schools are great. But we wanted something that everybody could enjoy no matter what your age. You don't have to be athletic. You don't have to be rich. Just come down to the park, bring your blanket, sit and watch free entertainment all day. Check out the art. Have fun.

"What we've found from talking to the artists is right now East Providence doesn't have a place to gather. So we're giving them these places to gather, to connect with other artists and with the community. There's a lot of studios in East Providence, a lot of studios with working artists that people just don't know about. So that's what we're trying to bring."

"We want to raise the quality of life," Mr. Lawson added. "For a city to succeed you have to have good schools, good police and fire, good roads and water and something to do. So that's where the arts council comes in. We want to put together events that bring the community out and celebrate being Townies."

In the end, the organizers want "the looff" be as much of an expression of East Providence's qualities as it acknowledges those of the artists on the display.

"It's free. It's fun. It's colorful. It literally is something for everybody," Ms. Rook-Repoza concluded. "We want everyone to come out and enjoy what we already have in East Providence and the artists we have in the community.

Said Mr. Lawson, "More than anything we want to accent the positives the city has to offer."

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