It’s the second year of Pianos and Parks in Kelowna and the launch of the 2016 season is bringing an expansion.

Renata Mills, executive director of Festivals Kelowna, said they have upped the number of pianos from five to eight, with new locations at Roxby Park in Rutland, in front of the Okanagan Heritage Museum on Queensway and Kelowna Memorial Cemetery.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.Festivals Kelowna executive director Renata Mills speaking at an event to start off Pianos in Parks 2016.

On Tuesday, they launched this year's program at Roxby Park and a few local musicians took their turn breaking in the keys. 

Photo Credit: KelownaNow. A few local musicians stepped up to play the newly unveiled piano.

"What's exciting this year is it's not just in the downtown. When we introduced the program last year we weren't 100 per cent sure it would receive as much interest as it did, but it was over the top,” said Mills, who estimates the program touched about a million people last year.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler even took the time to participate when he was in Kelowna for a concert.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.

The other five pianos will be found at the same locations as last year. They were able to reuse two of the same ones, but the others are now out of commission after being exposed to changing weather, heat and use—some were already on their last legs.

"Some of them were so old there was just fabric on the inside holding the keys together and it just gives way,” said Mills. “Generally speaking, they were not in terrible shape.”

The ones that have been reused have been redecorated. Festivals Kelowna worked with a number of local artists.

Cynthia Gunsinger recreated one of her original paintings on one of the pianos, which will be placed in Jim Stuart Park. The local branch of the Canadian Federation of Artists decorated the piano for the cemetery and Disney Interactive brought two of the pianos alive with colourful art.

The piano that you can find at Roxby Park was painted by some up-and-coming artists: students from the Rutland Secondary School Grade 10 art class.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.Grade 10 students from Rutland Secondary School were at the event to see the piano they painted be unveiled.

Leah Woodin, one of the young artists, was there for the big unveiling on Tuesday morning and described seeing it at the park as amazing.

It took the Grade 10s just over a week to paint.

“It was really fun,” Woodin said. “It was like a bonding thing between the whole class. We all had sections to paint and when we had to narrow it down to a few people, the four or five of us just bonded really well and all connected. 

"I'm pretty proud of our work.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.From L to R: Leah Woodin, Kassidy Oudijk, Lauren Blanchette and Kira Lamanque.

As a member of the Rutland community, Woodin said the program is welcome.  

“It'll be good for Rutland,” she said. “Just hearing people play on it and stuff, hearing people's music ability, will be really nice. It'll brighten up Rutland, too.” 

The Uptown Rutland Association, which Mills said is trying to build a greater sense of community, will have student ambassadors checking the Roxby Park piano to make sure it's covered up when it's raining and to dust the keys off if needed.

“We're really happy that they reached out and said, 'Hey, I want to be a part of this,’” Mills said.

If you stop by a piano and see damage, you are encouraged to call the phone number written on the front of each piano.