{"id":903436,"date":"2026-05-04T05:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/main-street-sundays-join-jozis-first-car-free-sunday-and-celebrate-connection\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T05:24:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:24:02","slug":"main-street-sundays-join-jozis-first-car-free-sunday-and-celebrate-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/main-street-sundays-join-jozis-first-car-free-sunday-and-celebrate-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"MAIN STREET SUNDAYS: Join Jozi\u2019s first car-free Sunday, and celebrate connection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On Sunday, 12 April, Main Street in Marshalltown will transform from a busy business corridor into an inner-city \u201cliving room\u201d. Main Street Sundays is Jozi\u2019s first inner-city car-free experiment in which the street will be closed to traffic and open instead to families and residents who are invited to come and walk, cycle, skate and connect in the heart of Jozi. <\/p>\n

Hosted by Jozi My Jozi, Young Urbanists South Africa, the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership, the City of Joburg and Open Streets Cape Town, Main Street Sundays is a global movement that has proven, in cities from Bogot\u00e1 to Cape Town, that when streets prioritise people, communities thrive. <\/p>\n

\u201cCome and enjoy a Sunday where Jozi feels like it belongs to the people,\u201d says Mbali Zulu of Jozi My Jozi. \u201cCome and hear the city\u2019s heartbeat without the roar of taxis and buses. Come and see kids and families cycling, skateboarding and roller-skating in the middle of the city. Come and see the street turn into a massive living art canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pedestrians and co<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For one day, pedestrians, cyclists and skaters will have total right of way, making it a safe, open playground for families. It\u2019s not a commercial event, says Zulu. There\u2019s no rush to get to a certain stage or a performance \u2013 it\u2019s essentially about human connection. <\/p>\n

From 10am to 5pm, Main Street, from the magistrates\u2019 court all the way to Gandhi Square, will be closed to traffic and divided into different \u00adactivity zones such as mind and body, arts and crafts, children\u2019s playgrounds, cycling and skateboarding, silent reading and funky music. <\/p>\n

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Families and their kids can enjoy playtime in the streets of Jozi. (Photo: Bridget Hilton-Barber) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For kids there is face painting, art, street games, skateboarding, scooter riding and roller-skating. Play Africa will bring a mobile space designed for joyful discovery for kids and families. There will be activities such as upcycled crafting, drawing and collaborative building projects. <\/p>\n

Rather than a traditional market, expect small setups from local creatives and street activations such as murals and graffiti from Baz-Art. Sankofa Art Productions will bring tech and soul to the street, with artists doing live sketches and digital portraits. Urban Sketchers Johannesburg will be part of the creative energy too, as a global community of artists who draw on location, capturing the life of the city as they see it.<\/p>\n

Books and walking tours<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Independent inner-city bookstore Bridge Books will have open-air readings and a storytelling hub \u2013 and tours around the Literary District to the Johannesburg City Library and underground booksellers. There will be pop-up street libraries and outdoor reading rooms where comfy seating and quiet zones will be set up, encouraging people to slow down and read in public. <\/p>\n

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Singing in the streets. (Photo: Bridget Hilton-Barber) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And at the other end of Main Street, hip-hop hero Osmic Menoe will be performing groovy tunes. For art lovers, the fabulous contemporary Asisebenze Art Atelier will be open, as will the Standard Bank Art Gallery, which will give people the opportunity to see its amazing exhibition called Homecoming: The Return of the Johannesburg Art Gallery Collection. <\/p>\n

It is an exhibition of 145 masterpieces from the Johannesburg Art Gallery after they went on a two-year international tour through Europe and Asia. The show features a mix of European classical masters and seminal South African artists. <\/p>\n

Local restaurants and eateries will be open, including Sadie\u2019s Bistro and the Afro-soul Weed Lovers Market. And the Reef Hotel is a great place to wrap up a day with sundowners in the sky at its Elevate Rooftop Bar on the 15th floor. DM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Main Street Sundays is from 10am to 5pm. Register here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance writer who writes for Jozi My Jozi.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Anthony Michaud
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, 12 April, Main Street in Marshalltown will transform from a busy business corridor into an inner-city \u201cliving room\u201d. Main Street Sundays is Jozi\u2019s first inner-city car-free experiment in which the street will be closed to traffic and open instead to families and residents who are invited to come and walk, cycle, skate and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":903437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,24768],"tags":[5570,17312],"class_list":{"0":"post-903436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-street","8":"category-sundays","9":"tag-street","10":"tag-sundays"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}