Tickle the Ivories Piano Festival
11 July - 14 September
Monday - Saturday 10am - 7pm | Sunday 10am - 5pm
It’s the 15th year of Tickle the Ivories! Our piano festival is back giving visitors a chance to showcase their musical talents!
The 9 week-long event runs until mid-September and encourages local talent to get involved and fill the streets of Liverpool city centre with symphonies of every genre from classical through to dance music.
Piano Locations
📍 Custom House Place under the John Lewis Canopy facing the Green Steps.
📍 South John Street under the bridge by Office Shoes
📍 College Lane opposite Waterstones
📍 Peter’s Square near Kiehl’s and Ted Baker
📍 in The Galleria by ODEON IMAX
Brad Kella is back to launch our 15th year celebrations | Friday 11 July
Channel 4’s The Piano winner Brad Kella returns to where it all began with a special performance to launch our 15th year celebrations on Friday 11 July.
You’ll also spot some familiar faces who’ve been with Tickle the Ivories since the very start, including 90-year-old ‘Billy the Hat’, Liverpool Inspirational Voices from Bradbury Fields, Andrew Fisher, Johnny Larsen and Geoff Metcalfe.
Whether it’s dropping in for a spontaneous melody, or watching the incredible performances as the world goes by at Liverpool ONE, Tickle the Ivories is an event held for everyone.
Performance Schedule
Take a look at our upcoming performance schedule.
Friday 30 August
Artist: Lucas Fraser
Time: 12pm – 1pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Artist: Lucas Fraser
Time: 1pm – 2pm
Location: South Joh Street
Artist: Andrew Fisher
Time: 2pm – 3pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Artist: Liverpool Suzuki Violins
Time: 3pm – 4pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Sunday 1 September
Artist: Matthew Nealis
Time: 12pm – 1pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Artist: Andrew Fisher
Time: 1pm – 2pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Artist: Liverpool Socialist Singers
Time: 2pm – 3pm
Location: Sugar House Steps
Want to book a slot to play at Tickle?
Pianos are available free to use for all. However, if you would like to book to play at a specific time, please complete your details on the form below. You will then receive a link to Liverpool ONE’s booking system where you can see all the pianos and slots available and book your chosen location.
Meet the artists behind the designs!
This year, our gorgeous Tickle pianos are all inspired by different music legends. Here’s a little bit about the artists who created the wonderful designs for our 2024 piano festival.
Rosa Kusabbi
After graduating with a first Class Illustration degree in 2020, Rosa was named as one of the top ten illustrators to watch by the AOI.
Rosa’s work is centred around Queer joy, female empowerment and social issues.
Ffion Pritchard - Taylor Swift
Ffion is an artist and designer based in North Wales. Experienced in marketing, commercial illustration, motion graphics, fine art and community-engaged arts.
Ffion is interested in how art can benefit society, be it through community-engaged art, art in healthcare or through the cathartic power of storytelling, humour and entertainment.
Stu Harrison - The Beatles
Stu is an illustrator and cartoonist, producing artwork for children’s books and creating ideas for children’s media, as well as working extensively in editorial illustration for publications including the Guardian Guide, Mixmag and Select.
He has had global representation by agents in the UK, Europe, The US and Japan.
Karen Hitchcock - Freddie Mercury
Submitting Karen’s idea was a development from an earlier project called “Our Correspondence“ where scenes of people getting on in their day were illustrated in the style of “where’s Wally” but in black and white.
She wanted to have Freddie’s outfits as the only figures with colour, that stands out, like Mercury’s vibrant energy and spirit.