A successful first season for the outdoor piano in Olde Towne Plaza came to a close this weekend.

The piano was celebrated with Picnic at the Piano where people brought their own lunches and enjoyed live music.

Allan Boss, culture and heritage manager with the Town of Okotoks, says having a public piano isn't an uncommon idea.

"A lot of communities do this around North America and in Europe, it's a movement that's been catching on," he says. "Calgary started it a number of years ago and there's now 12 public pianos in and around Calgary."

The idea to introduce a public piano in Okotoks was partially spurred from marketing and branding guru Roger Brooks visit to Okotoks last year when he said Okotoks needed more community gathering places.

Boss says the piano will get a new look in the spring.

"Next spring the Okotoks Arts Council has agreed to sponsor the painting of the piano so we are going to put forward a contest where people submit designs," he says. "The best design, the one the community chooses, will be painted onto that piano and it will come back to the Okotoks Plaza next year."

The Arts Council will announce the contest in the upcoming months.

For an inside look at how Picnic at the Piano went click here.

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