AN ARTIST has set up home on a beach with his piano on Portobello Beach after failing to find a place to stay during the Edinburgh Festival.
Charlie Wiseman, 50, has moved into a tent on the sands while he performs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The cash-strapped director said he was struggling to find somewhere to live is camping there as he claims the event has become too commercial.
Two years ago, Edinburgh council chiefs evicted his piano tuner friend Ben Treuhaft from the beach.
Mr Wiseman, from London, said: “I have been planning it for over a year.
I could not afford rent during the festival.
“I’ve always worked with disadvantaged people and was just left out of pocket.
“I heard about Ben having lived on the beach and rang him up. He was very sympathetic and even gave me one of his old pianos.
“I will stay in the small tent and keep an eye on the piano.
“It’s for visitors and performers.”
Mr Wiseman set up a tent on the beach on Thursday evening and yesterday morning got a friend to deliver the upright piano.
The instrument will get its own tent and anyone visiting the beach has now been invited to play.
In 2014, Ben Treuhaft spent almost five months living on the beach with a piano after his fed-up wife kicked him out of their home.
The professional piano tuner lived there throughout the summer, where he played the keys for curious visitors.
But after five months he was forced to pack up his belongings, including the piano, because he lost an appeal against his long-standing eviction.
Edinburgh City Council leaders said living on the beach breached the capital’s management rules, which prohibit camping within one mile of a public road.
Ben described the bizarre act of using pianos in public spaces as “pi-anarchy”.
Mr Wiseman, who is performing a theatre piece called OwlTime at the C nova venue as part of the Fringe, said he was inspired by the stunt.
Read more: Shalom Festival to be staged at Edinburgh Festival Fringe draws protest
He said: “Somebody has already come by and asked if he could stay with his tent.”
Meanwhile, early signs are that Fringe ticket sales are healthy this year, with the Pleasance reporting sales of 10 per cent up on this time last year, and Summerhall reporting sales of 20 per cent up on last year, with several sell out shows.
The Edinburgh International Festival also reports that ticket sales are up on this time last year, indicating a strong opening week of theatre, opera, and music.
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