Joburg mayor joins 4 000 in Freedom Ride
Festival highlights ‘green’ transport
SANDTON’S West Street was treated to a colourful makeover yesterday when the EcoMobility Freedom Ride and Family Day rolled through the corporate district.
The day began with the Freedom Ride, where about 4 000 cyclists, including Joburg mayor Parks Tau and Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi, set off from the Sandton Gautrain station around 7am.
They cycled through Rosebank, Parktown, Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville.
The second part of the day kicked off with families being offered various fun ways to transport themselves around the family day event in West Street.
Amid the clowns, jugglers and stilt walkers, various children’s activities were on offer, while adults found shade under big umbrellas and gazebos.
A green mat covered the road and allowed scooters, bicycles, Segways, skateboards and unicycles to dominate the space.
Children who were too young to hop on the alternative transport options on offer played with remote-controlled cars on tiny racing tracks or pushed themselves along on plastic scooters.
The adults zipped around on electric motorbikes with as much excitement as the children whizzing past the sand castle area, the multiple food trucks and jumping castle, and ending at the stage, where two Afro-pop acts were set to perform.
SA Music Award (Sama) winner Maleh took to the stage first, with the crowd singing along to her performance. She was followed by fellow Sama winner Zahara, who played her guitar and sang some of her hits to a more roused crowd.
The EcoMobility World Festival 2015 will be running in Sandton until the end of this month.