London’s Pop Up Ping-Pong Parlours

Forget the chessboard – this summer, people throughout Europe from Barcelona to Berlin are picking up their paddles for street-side table tennis. Cities across England, and in London in particular, are beginning to install Ping-Pong tables in public places in order to build up excitement for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Ping-Pong Parlour, a one-month “pop-up ping pong parlour” in London offers a variety of free-to-use ping pong tables. In addition to the parlour, Ping! has installed 100 public ping pong tables throughout the city of London (only in place until August 22nd!). And they’ve organized a ton of ping pong events like the “Sing n Ping” singalong/pingalong at Victoria Embankment on August 19th. To find a map of ping pong table locations from Soho Square to Heathrow’s Terminal 3 – check out their handy map.

Wanna work your topspin on this side of the pond? With the help of outdoor ping pong experts at  Henge, we’ve found outdoor ping pong tables springing up across the U.S. as well, in places like New York City’s Gulick Park, and Tempe, Arizona’s Esquer Park. In fact, Seattle has taken the trend to a whole new level. The outdoor Ping Pong Plaza of the Rosetta Merck Building, designed by artist Buster Simpson, features a bronze ping pong table whose four legs are cut to resemble the profiles of famous scientists. Wherever you’re headed, these outdoor table tennis venues are sure to put a little bounce in your travels.

[Ping!]
[SpottedbyLocals]

Photos: Ping!