Terang residents look twice as pink piano takes to street in colourful procession

The street piano is the latest installment in a bid to enliven and energise the town in the years following the 2018 St Patrick's Day bushfires.

The street piano will foster impromptu performances to brighten residents' days and breathe new life into the stunning art deco building, complete with its original leadlight windows and stone facade.

Terang Noorat in the Avenue Arts (TNAA) committee member Des McKinnon said the street piano idea was based on a similar concept in Melbourne. "They did it in the city a few years ago," Mr McKinnon said.

"They had pianos in three or four public places in Melbourne where people could sit and play as they walked past. There was one down at Southbank and another in the city and that was what fostered this idea."

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Post-fire Corangamite Shire funding led to the formation of the TNAA and events and activities over the past two years have included murals by Warrnambool artist Jimmi Buscombe in The Avenue and at St Thomas' Primary School, the Colour Terang Festival, a Presbyterian Church concert, a spring flower show, weekly movie screenings and an upcoming book launch and a musical theatre performance.

He said the activities had re-energised the town and brought community members together, including new residents, giving them a chance to meet others. "We've got neighbours who have only been in the town two months and they can't believe it," he said.

Community members, dressed in pink, carefully moved the newly-painted pink piano from the Commercial Hotel, donated by owner Les Cameron, 80 metres down High Street in a grandiose procession.

The piano's move to its new home culminated with an informal celebratory performance by Terang musician Marie Ewing, committee members and local residents.

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