Fun and games at Ballybricken for Playful Streets
The huge crowd that turned up for the final Playful Streets event on Ballybricken Green. All Photos: Noel Browne
The community of Ballybricken in Waterford city came together recently to celebrate the area's thriving community through the Playful Streets initiative.
Children, parents, local gardaí and politicians all came out for a day of fun and community on Ballybricken Hill on Thursday, September 19.
Playful Streets is a nationwide initiative that shuts down traffic in a particular neighbourhood for a couple of hours so that everybody can come out of their houses and play together.
During Playful Streets, members of the community spanning all ages came outside together to play and socialise safely.
This project was piloted last year in Waterford by the Healthy Waterford team and a plethora of other partners, and they’re going again in 2024.
Neighbourhoods across the county have embraced the initaitive, transforming their areas into community spaces for people to come together and chat or play.
The Playful Streets initiative ran from May to September 2024 and included 29 events in different locations around County Waterford.
Over 2,000 adults and children participated in the 29 events.
The initiative was run in partnership with the Community Department of Waterford City and County Council, as well as a number of other organisations.
Two penultimate events ran to finish up the 2024 project, in Walton Park, Dungarvan and Ballybricken Green.
A spokesperson said, "Playful Streets are a great way to get out, get active and meet your neighbours, and we really enjoyed meeting everyone along the way."
