Holiday rentals news - Pianos to be left round London to boost public spirit

Pianos to be left round London to boost public spirit

Grand pianos are going to be placed around London to increase public spirit. Backed by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London who yesterday fell in a river, the scheme will see the pianos located at prominent sites around the city later this month.

Holidaymakers renting apartments in London will notice 31 grand pianos in the city from June 23. As well as having the support of Johnson, the project is backed by the National Lottery, reports The Times.

Part of the Sing London festival, the pianos will be placed at sites such as the British Library, the Natural History Museum, the Bank of England and Tate Britain. Each of the instruments will be decorated by an artist in a design fitting to its location - for example, the one outside the Bank of England will have a money theme, while a piano in Portobello Road market will feature fruit and vegetables.

The scheme aims to promote a greater sense of community. "Our projects are about increasing a sense of public spirit," said the experiment's director, Colette Hiller. "We want people to treat [each] piano nicely, as they would a piano in their own home, to enjoy the songbooks with care and to cover the piano when it rains."

As a precaution, the pianos will be chained to bollards and railings. However, members of the public will be trusted not to vandalise them or steal the songbooks provided.

The pianos will be on the streets of London for three weeks. A full time tuner will cycle between the sites to maintain the pianos throughout that period.

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