Tumour doesn’t deter Lococo from Carmel arts fest
Expanded annual show includes art workshops and dozens of musicians
Lori Lococo simply didn’t have time to get sick.
She was running for city council. She was helping out with the Livestock Niagara music festival. She was co-organizing this weekend’s Carmel Fine Art & Music Festival.
But on Aug. 16 she had to drop it all to undergo emergency surgery at McMaster for a grapefruit-sized tumour on her ovary, which also entailed a hysterectomy and cutting out sections of her bowel.
For someone always juggling at least a few projects, Lococo was suddenly faced with dropping all of them.
“There were a few times not knowing what was going to happen and how I would feel,” she says.
“We didn’t want to say anything to anybody until we knew what we were dealing with,” adds husband Phil, her co-organizer for the Carmel show.
When the tests showed a benign tumour, Lococo decided to slowly, sometimes painfully, get back to work.
The result is a bigger Carmel arts festival starting Friday night at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls.
“It’s hard for her, but she’s such a dynamo,” says Phil. “Without her there’s a lot of moving parts here that just couldn’t happen.”
“It is harder than last year,” Lori adds. “I think my energy is OK as long as I’m not physically exerting energy. I do have some brain fog — sometimes I can’t grasp words and can’t remember things, so that’s a little bit difficult for me.”
The married couple also oversee the not-for-profit group Niagara Arts Showcase, under which the Carmel show operates. They took over the show after it took a one-year hiatus. It spent its first four years at the Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre.
This year’s expanded show will feature several art installations, 15 arts-related workshops (free with admission), and dozens of musicians.
Added this year will be Saturday’s Beat the Heat EDM Family Picnic, featuring electronic dance music in the lower park and Marquis Event Tent from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“That’s one of the new things — twice as many bands,” says Phil.
Among this year’s slate of artists is Brian Boyer, who makes tree structures using recycled wire. Boyer is a former homeless man who once literally lived in a tree in Niagara Falls.
Former Much-Music VJ Kim Clarke Champniss also returns this year, hosting the opening gala from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. A VIP pre-show, which includes wine, goes from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets for VIP Access are $15. The gala is $5.
The event runs 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 per day.