Tablecloths to line 1km route along Porty Promenade

UP to 1000 tablecloths are set to line the Portobello seafront as part of a new community art project.

• Jim and Flora Henry lay down a tablecloth on the wall

The bright tapestry is planned to run along a kilometre of the sea wall in the latest creation by the Big Things on the Beach group.

The event, dubbed The Big Welcome, is designed to support the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend.

Organisers are encouraging residents from all over Edinburgh to decorate a tablecloth in line with a theme - international connections to family, friends and places. Those taking part can then bring their original creations along to Portobello beach on July 24 for the celebration.

Chairman Damian Killeen said the team was hoping to line the sea wall with at least 700 tablecloths.

He said: "We're aiming to cover approximately a kilometre. The Big Welcome is designed to celebrate the UK Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend and this marks the beginning of our cultural exchange with artists and communities across the world.

"Starting with Italy, we're working with local communities so that they can develop similar organisations to Big Things on the Beach. In return, three Italian artists will come to work with us next year.

"We're inviting everyone to decorate a tablecloth as an expression of their links to international communities. We're planning to use the sea wall as a base for a picnic on the day."

He added that if enough people get involved in the project, all the tablecloths would be displayed in a show at Edinburgh Indoor Bowls and Leisure Centre in the days after the event.

Mr Killeen said: "This will be an opportunity to show off Portobello Promenade and show our support for communities. We want to bring the best of Edinburgh to the beach."

The event, supported by the city council and Creative Scotland, will feature local singer Mairi Campbell and Simone Caffari and the Badwills, a traditional Italian band made up of Scottish and Italian musicians.

A Zumba crew is set to entertain the crowds and organisers are asking anyone with a hobby to attend to put on a show.

The council will have the library storytelling bus and the youth service will be running a mini-Olympics for the kids.

The Big Welcome comes ahead of a number of events lined up by the organisation in the next year.

In the past the group has arranged a collection of 13 fruit machines, converted a pub into an art gallery and transformed a swimming pool into a three-dimensional artwork.