Pianos in the Park Will Bring Music to Downtown Kelowna

Festivals Kelowna has launched a new initiative which will bring music to several Kelowna locations.

The Pianos in the Park program was launched on Thursday, June 11^th and will feature five pianos placed in high traffic areas. The pianos have been sponsored by Disney Interactive, the creators of Club Penguin, and three of the pianos were also painted by more than 15 of their artists. Keystone Music sourced and delivered the pianos for the program and will provide ongoing support throughout the summer.

The new pianos to be place in Kelowna parks (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

According to Festivals Kelowna Executive Director Renata Mills, the pianos will remain outside rain or shine from now until the end of September or beginning of October.

“We’ve come up with another way to animate parks and public spaces in the community,” explains Mills. “This is not a new idea; in fact there are programs like this all over the world. They are part of an international movement of public pianos.”

There are more than 1,300 pianos installed all around the world in public spaces for people to play and enjoy in more than 46 cities.

The pianos will remain tuned all summer thanks to Keystone Music (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

The five pianos will be placed in active pedestrian spots including the City Park tunnel, the Busk Stop near the ‘Spirit of Sail’ at the foot of Bernard Avenue, along the lakefront walkway beside Jim Stuart Park, at the south end of the Artwalk behind the Kelowna Law Courts, and along the sidewalk on Cawston Avenue between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Kelowna Art Gallery.

Mills hopes the public will enjoy the art on the pianos and the music it will fill the spaces with. Ongoing maintenance will take place over the summer to ensure the pianos are in working order and they will be fixed to an area so they cannot be moved or damaged. Next year, Festivals Kelowna hopes to renew the program and perhaps add more pianos to the project.