People's Park

About People's Park

Just south of the Moses Mabhida Stadium, in Stamford Hill, Durban, is People's Park. As its name suggests it is a park designed for people, particularly children.

Did you know? Don't go expecting the usual rectangle, grassy verges, swings, the requisite slide, a couple of merry-go-rounds and the odd beautiful oak tree. This is a park with a difference.

The People's Park includes a track and field area, a modern kids playground and a café that overlooks all of this – perfect for parents to watch their kids from the shade of the veranda whilst sipping on skinny latés and flat white cappuccinos.

The track is a sloping, smooth marble-like strip directly in front of the café that runs the length of the park, a kilometre long. Kids love it. The polished concrete makes riding a bicycle, skateboarding, and rollerskating, totally effortless.

Down one side of the track is a grassy strip dotted with shaded pergolas perfect for picnics and moms and tots, whilst on the opposite side is a playground of note: swings, jungle gyms, climbing frames, merry-go-rounds, sand pits, sprung seat rides in a different league from municipal parks, all set on beach sand to break a fall.

There are fountains in which children can cool off, a bike, scooter and skateboard hire (by the hour; take cash), benches for tired grandparents and parents along the length of the track, reasonably priced take away Illy coffee, and daily newspapers from the café.

People's Park contains children in a way that makes parents feel safe, and liberates children to play as they were meant to, in groups in large spaces.

The park doubles often as a music venue, playing host to a number of music acts organised by the Moses Mabhida Stadium. The I Heart weekly market meets on the north side of the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

To take with you: sunscreen, hats, cash, a picnic
Where: Just off Masabalala Yngwa Avenue, south of the Moses Mabhida Stadium