The Downtown Memphis Commission hosted Parking Day for the first time since 2017 on Friday, Sept. 19, at the intersection of Peabody Place and South Main Street. 

With the purpose of inspiring local Memphians to reimagine their city, the DMC set up three different “parks” using the street parking spaces in front of the Peabody Place tower. The themes were:

• Campfire: Camping chairs and a makeshift bonfire with heaters to make s’mores;
• Traditional: Games like spades and dominoes; and
• Beach: First 50 visitors received free ice cream sandwiches from Margie’s 901.

“It helps people look at their city differently for a few hours,” said DMC Transportation & Mobility Program manager Morgan Shaw. “We hope it kind of sticks in their brains and think it’s kind of nice to have a little bit of change of pace.” 

Main Street will soon get new banners

Innovate Memphis’ Street Fair partnered with DMC to help put on this event. Their campfire-themed park gained a lot of traction, as locals were drawn to the s’mores table and fall-like nature environment.

“Parking Day is an opportunity for us to highlight our streets, which is one of our most important and vital public spaces in Memphis,” said Jackson McNeil, the transportation and mobility director at Innovate Memphis. “We want people to reimagine the public space if it wasn’t always just for cars.” 

The event was set to start at 11 a.m., but suffered a rain delay. After the rain, organizers set up the parks, and the first visitor was there within 10 minutes. The sun peeked through around 12:30, and by then all the parks were occupied.

Locals were encouraged to stop by whether they were just passing by or looking for a place to relax on their lunch break. Nathaniel Mayes, who works at the Regions bank Downtown, stopped by and took in the experience while he was walking through the area on his break. 

“It was different, it was a really nice set-up and I liked it,” Mayes said. “I really liked the idea of a park in a parking spot. It’s something creative that I haven’t seen before.” 

This event is slated to be held every year on the third Friday in September. Locations will vary and will be announced a few weeks in advance.