The Mary Fitzgerald Square in

Newtown, Johannesburg Newtown is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in the capital city of Gauteng Province and the Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. It has the coordinates of 26.204°S and 28.034°E. The suburb originat ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

is a public space named after Mary "Pickhandle" Fitzgerald, who is considered to have been the first female trade unionist in the country. Previously known as Aaron's Ground, the square was named for Fitzgerald in 1939 as it was an often-used location for strikers' meetings in the early part of the 20th century. The square features lighting designed by French lighting engineer Patrick Rimoux and an installation of carved wooden heads. The square is the centerpiece of the Newtown urban renewal project and is surrounded by structures significant to the city, including the Market Theatre — which played host to much of the 1980s 'struggle theatre' opposing the apartheid regime's discriminatory policies; MuseuMAfricA; the old Turbine Hall, and the Worker's Library. On 2 July 2005, Mary Fitzgerald Square hosted the Johannesburg leg of the

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

series of concerts organised by Bob Geldof. Since 2012, In The City has been hosted in the square on the first Friday of every October.

References

{{coord, 26, 12, 09, S, 28, 01, 53, E, region:ZA_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Johannesburg Squares in South Africa