Parramatta Square / Centennary Square

Parramatta Square is a nice open space to relax at lunch or after work/​school.
It has recently been done up and features a new playground for the kids, nice grass areas to sit down and a fountain area.
It hosts a market on Fridays and other various events throughout the year such as Christmas celebrations.
There’s also table tennis, giant chess and other activities in the afternoon throughout the week.

Call me a traditionalist, but I love me a good town square.
Maybe because they’re throwbacks to an age when the whole town would turn out on a balmy weeknight and listen to minstrels and the dulcet calls of traveling snake oil salesmen. Or maybe just because there’s something inimitably social about a big open gathering place at the heart of a community.
Either way, it’s just been through a big refurb and there’s more planned, with places like Jamie’s Trattoria and Bourke Street Bakery opening up on adjacent sides, enough to keep the locals happy and draw foodies in from surrounding suburbs.
On Fridays there’s growers markets around the fountain, and sometimes they’ll bust out ping pong tables and giant chess sets for the public to play with.

Parramatta Square, located near Church Street, outside Parramatta Library and City Hall… is a great place to just chill.
Bathed in sunlight, it’s a beautiful place to sit and watch the world go by. There’s a water feature, a statue, a playground, a park, and sometimes, anonymous persons place a piano upon the dias!
I often go there to have a smoke and hang out if we happen to be early for a movie, or if we’re having a wander through the shops.
You get all manner of buskers selling their talent, and on occasion, you get little old ladies trying to convert you to Mormonism.
It’s always bustling, and always interesting.