Shop
Street events
Street parties
A street party is a small, private event organised by residents for residents. It normally involves closing the street to traffic and may include asking people to remove parked cars from the road for the duration.
A street party is a wonderful way to:
- Meet and get to know your neighbours
- enjoy the street without cars
- give kids a chance to experience street play within a safe environment, with no traffic and plenty of adults to watch over them.
Most street parties are quite simple affairs involving sharing food and drink, running games for the children and decorating the street. If you want to close the road to traffic you will normally need to make a formal application to your local authority and you may need a licence if you want to play live music or have a pay bar.
Streets Alive is an organisation offering lots of information on how to run a street party. Visit their website and download our activity sheet (pdf) for tips and advice.
Playing Out sessions
Another option for giving families a chance to see what it's like to play in the street is to run a Playing Out session.
This is an idea that has been successfully tried on several streets in Bristol through a project set up by parents. Playing Out sessions involve limiting traffic for a few hours after school to allow neighbours to meet and children to play in the road and on the pavements.
Playing Out sessions are less formal than street parties. The streets are not usually decorated and there are no formal activities or refreshments - it is just about making the space safe for play. Residents can have vehicle access and leave their cars parked in the street. However, it does often require a road closure application and you will need to set up a rota of stewards to manage the cars. Instead of organised games, children are encouraged to do whatever they feel like doing: they may chalk on the pavements, have a football match in the road or play on bikes and scooters.
They give children the opportunity to play freely in the street as a normal part of their day and offer neighbours of all ages an opportunity to meet and see the street as more than a place to just park your car.
Visit the Playing Out website for information and advice on how to run a session on your street.
