Though there were plenty of things to see at the Bathurst Winter Festival Ignite the Night evening last Saturday – from performers to the light displays – it was a cheerful little piano in Machattie Park that proved hardest for Parade and the members of his family to tear themselves away from.

There were no rules – at least not as far as Parade could see, anyway. The piano just sat there waiting to be played – and plenty of people took up the opportunity.

Parade kicked things off by showing his nephews how to play the melody in Ode To Joy (it’s a simple march up and down the same handful of keys), then Parade’s sister-in-law surprised her husband by playing part of the Chariots Of Fire theme.

“I had no idea you could play that,” he said, eyes agog.

Others wandering past made a detour to come over and play something while Parade and his family enjoyed the impromptu entertainment.

There was Heart And Soul, Fur Elise, even the Chicken Dance tune.

“You don’t do Hey Jude, do you?” Parade asked one of the players hopefully.

“I can’t play any Beatles,” she said, resisting the urge to remind Parade that she wasn’t a performer in a piano bar.

It had to be one of the cheapest forms of entertainment to organise last Saturday, but Parade thought the Machattie Park piano was one of the best.

It even made Parade think back to some of the piano lessons of his youth – and to wonder where it all went wrong.

ON the same subject, Parade has always appreciated those who can play music by ear.

Parade once watched one of his cousins sit herself at the piano and, through a little trial and error, teach herself how to play the main part from a song that was popular at the time on the radio (the radio was what you had before iTunes).

Watching that process was, Parade thought, like watching someone turning water into wine - both mystical and magical.