Days Out NI
Play Park Ballymena

People's Park Play Park

Mid-Antrim's big one — two play areas rebuilt into a single inclusive playground, inside 45 acres of Victorian park.

3 photos
Open daily8am–8pm in summer, 8am–6pm in winter
FreeNo charge
BallymenaPlay Park
Get directionsOfficial website
1–2 hoursHow long
Toddlers to about 12Best for
FreeEntry
On siteParking
OutdoorsSetting

People's Park Play Park — Ballymena's two play areas rebuilt as one big inclusive playground, inside 45 acres of Victorian park with a lake, a skate park and free tennis courts.

  • What you'll do: A tall ramped climbing frame with twin tube slides and a lookout tower, a boulder to scramble, swings including a wheelchair swing, spinners and a separate lower section for the small ones — all on soft surfacing.
  • Why it's on our list: The council combined and extended the park's two separate play areas into a single one, and put a £380,000 spend into the equipment. It's the biggest and best-equipped play park in mid-Antrim.
  • Cost & parking: Free, with a car park at the Doury Road entrance.
  • The 30-minute rule: When it's busy, the council limits play to 30 minutes at a time. Fair on everyone, but worth knowing before you promise a long afternoon.
  • Watch the gates: The park closes 6pm in winter and 8pm in summer, and the play area, tennis courts and skate park shut an hour before that.
  • Toilets: In the park, including a Changing Places facility. Open 10am–4pm in winter, 10am–7pm in summer.
  • Make a day of it: The lake and its ducks, free floodlit tennis courts, an outdoor gym, a skate park, picnic areas and paths right round the water.
Plan your visit

Two play areas made into one

The playground here is not the one Ballymena grew up with. The council pulled its two separate play areas together and extended them into a single space, spending £380,000 on the equipment and a further £145,000 on facilities for teenagers. Among the new kit went a wheelchair swing, so a child who uses a chair gets a go at the same thing as everyone else rather than watching from the path.

The centrepiece is the big frame — a multi-level structure with a ramped timber walkway leading up into it, a lookout tower on top and two tube slides dropping off the sides, set on green and grey safety surfacing with a river shape running through it. Around that sit the swings, a chunky boulder to climb, spinners and a lower cluster pitched at toddlers, which is what makes it work for a family with a three-year-old and a ten-year-old in the same trip.

And the playground is only the start of the grounds. The People's Park runs to 45 acres around a lake, so once the climbing is done there are ducks to feed, floodlit tennis courts you can use for nothing if you bring your own racquets, an outdoor gym, a bowling green, picnic areas and a full circuit of paths. The skate park keeps the older ones going when the swings have stopped being interesting.

Free Ramped climbing frame Wheelchair swing Toddler section Skate park Free tennis courts Lake and ducks Changing Places toilet
Two things to plan around:

At busy times play is limited to 30 minutes a turn, and the gates close earlier than most people expect — 6pm from September to April, 8pm from May to August, with the play area shutting an hour before the park. Go in the morning and neither one will catch you out.

Before you set off

What to bring

  • 🧥LayersIt's all outdoors, and a coat or spare jumper covers whatever the day does.
  • 🎾Tennis racquetsThe courts are free and you don't need to book — but you bring your own gear.
  • 💧Water & snacksKeeps everyone going between the frame and the lake.
  • 🛴A scooter or a ballMiles of flat path and plenty of open grass to burn off the rest of it.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Cost
Free.
Opening
Park 8am–6pm from 1 September to 30 April, and 8am–8pm from 1 May to 31 August. The play area, tennis courts and skate park close an hour before the park does.
Best for ages
Toddlers up to about 12, with the skate park covering the older ones.
What's there
One combined inclusive play area — ramped multi-level climbing frame, lookout tower, twin tube slides, boulder scramble, swings including a wheelchair swing, spinners and a toddler section on soft surfacing.
Also in the park
Lake with ducks, skate park, free floodlit tennis courts, outdoor gym, bowling green, picnic areas and walking paths.
Toilets
In the park, 10am–4pm in winter and 10am–7pm in summer, including a Changing Places facility.
Food
No café on the play park itself — bring a picnic. Ballymena town centre is a few minutes away for anything more.
Parking
Car park at the Doury Road entrance. There's pedestrian access from the Old Ballymoney Road side too.
Accessibility
Ramped access into the main climbing frame, a wheelchair swing, surfaced paths through the park and a Changing Places facility.
Dogs
The council doesn't publish a dog rule for the park. Assume on a lead, and keep out of the fenced play area.
Busy times
Play is limited to 30 minutes a turn when the park is busy.
How long to allow
One to two hours at the play park, or half a day if you take in the lake and the courts.
Address
People's Park, Doury Road, Ballymena BT43 6JA.
Contact
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council — 0300 124 5000.
Questions

Before you go

Is it free?
Yes, free to get in and free to play.
Is there parking?
Yes, a car park at the Doury Road entrance. There's also pedestrian access from the Old Ballymoney Road side.
Are there toilets?
Yes, in the park, open 10am–4pm in winter and 10am–7pm in summer. There's a Changing Places facility as well.
What ages does it suit?
Toddlers up to about 12 on the play equipment, with a skate park for older children and teenagers.
Is it any good for a child who uses a wheelchair?
Better than most. The main climbing frame has a ramped walkway up into it rather than steps only, there's a wheelchair swing, and the park has a Changing Places facility.
What's this 30-minute rule?
When the park is busy, the council limits a turn on the play equipment and the tennis courts to 30 minutes so everyone gets a shot. Quiet mornings, it won't come up.
What time does it close?
The park closes at 6pm from September to April and 8pm from May to August. The play area shuts an hour before the park.
Can we bring the dog?
The council doesn't publish a dog policy for the park. Keep them on a lead and out of the fenced play area.
Getting there

The People's Park is on the Doury Road in Ballymena, BT43 6JA, with a car park at that entrance and pedestrian access from the Old Ballymoney Road side. Tap below for turn-by-turn directions.

Directions on Google Maps See it on our map Official website

Phone 0300 124 5000 to check anything before you travel.

Nearby

Make more of the day

People's Park, BallymenaThe full guide to the whole park The best play parks in NISee the full list More days out in BallymenaEverything else close by Open the mapFind what's near you
The story

About the park

The People's Park was given to Ballymena in 1870 by Sir Robert Alexander Shafto Adair, and it has been the town's park ever since — 45 acres laid out around a lake on the Doury Road, a short walk from the centre. The shape of it is still Victorian: paths that circle the water, formal planting, a bowling green, and an information desk inside the gates where you can pick up seed for the ducks. That last detail tells you what most families come here to do first.

The play provision has been rebuilt in phases over recent years. The council ran a four-week public consultation on what people actually wanted, and got close to a thousand responses. What came out of it was a decision to stop running two smaller play areas and instead knock them together into one larger, better inclusive playground — £380,000 on equipment, and £145,000 more on facilities aimed at teenagers, including the skate park you'll find in the grounds.

The result is the play park that sits in the photograph at the top of this page: a single big frame with ramped access built in rather than bolted on, tube slides, a boulder, swings for every kind of child, and a toddler section a few steps away. It's the one place in mid-Antrim where you can turn up with children of very different ages and abilities and have all of them sorted in the same fifty yards.

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