The Playground in Braamfontein

WORDS Jo Buitendach PHOTOS Brett Rubin

Braamfontein’s original Saturday Market is back and buzzing.

Joburg’s bright young things love markets, so the reinvention of a Braamfontein stalwart has them pumped. Named “The Playground”, the weekly affair is situated in the former home of the now-defunct Neighbourgoods Market. Shaken and spruced up, it aims to spark joy and human connection, despite the doom and gloom of the past couple of years.

This weekend shopping fix was opened in early 2022 by original Braamies Neighbourgoods co-founder and urban developer, Adam Levy. Adam has been the force behind much of Braamfontein’s regeneration over the last two decades, and this, his latest project, adds a multi-floor mix of new food, art, design, fashion and music to the CBD.

“The Playground amplifies new stories and encourages the growth of new storytellers in this city,” says Adam. “It will excite a whole new generation, and will be a holding place for outstanding talent.”

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What makes the market so exciting is that it utilises the city’s best-kept secret – its citizens. By carefully choosing vendors and performers – be they bunny chow-makers, rising streetwear designers or jazz crooners – it provides a much-needed platform for the hustlers, creatives and passionate artisans of Johannesburg.

And because it takes place in a former office block with an iconic modernist facade created by sculptor Edoardo Villa, The Playground also offers great views of both the city and the area’s world-class street art.

Plus, the Braamfontein precinct has added more surveillance cameras – and the suburb’s previously informal car guards are now on Adam’s payroll, and have been tasked with looking after visitors, so the entire area around the market is buzzing and welcoming too.

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