Tickle the Ivories Festival back in Liverpool - five places where public can show off piano skills for free

Liverpool ONE has welcomed back its much-loved piano festival, Tickle the Ivories, giving both budding and professional musicians a platform to showcase their skills.

The ten-week-long event, which runs until 11 September, encourages local talent to get involved and fill the streets of Liverpool city centre with sounds from classical through to dance music.

This year, performers will have the opportunity to play on the newly revamped pianos, all of which have been redesigned with iconic imagery by local artists, including pop art and graffiti artist Sean Webster and New Brighton-based printmaking, illustration and design duo, Toucan Tango.

The pianos are free to use and located at the bottom of Sugar House Steps, South John Street, St Peters Square, College Lane, and the Galleria by the entrance of the ODEON cinema.

This just brings this kind of place alive

Iain Finlayson, Business Performance Director at Liverpool ONE, said, "Liverpool is a musical city. We've got a richer history than probably anywhere else in the country, maybe even the world, when it comes to music.

“Recently we've had some amazing concerts down at Anfield and obviously a very famous Scouser headlining Glastonbury.

“This just brings this kind of place alive we do things differently here.

“A few other places around the country now do piano festivals in shopping centres, but we were the first.”

With more than 5,700 performances under its belt since 2011, Tickle the Ivories is set to bring in more than 100 performers this year, ranging from solo pianists, duo pianists, choirs and dance groups.

“Sit down and play, you don’t need to be Elton John”

Mr Finlayson added: "Anybody can come along and play the piano. If you see an empty piano, sit down and play, you don't need to be Elton John; you can just sit down and have a go."