An organisers story
One street party organiser in London explains his nervous start to planning a street party, and how the generosity of his neighbours made it all turn out well on the day.
Residents Story.pdf
Street Parties on Car Free Day
2 streets in the North Laine area of Brighton had street parties in 2007 as part of national Car Free Day 22 Sept. Encouraged by their council, they built on years of experience of street parties since 1976.
World Map
One street had people from so many backgrounds that they were hanging about in separate groups. The world map activity brought them together. A local artist prepared a stencil of the map of the world into which she put coloured gravel. The kids chalked in the ocean blue.
At dusk residents were asked to put a lit candle on the country where they or their house originally came from. The whole world was covered.
It is amazing to see where everyone comes from using a map which can be bought for about a fiver from large stationers. Or you can get a map of the World or UK for about £5 each and pin or write where people come from.
Millennium Photo Album
In 2000 one resident took a photo of everyone outside their own house. She made copies of all the photos in an album for each house as a record for the millennium.
Street parties to community festival
One street had such a successful street party that all the surrounding streets wanted to join in. The event the following year resulted in all the streets being combined into a open community festival. (This requires much more organisation than a normal small street party.) A key focus was kids entertainment.
100th Anniversary of the street
One of the longest streets in the town with over 250 houses had a street party to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the building of the houses.
Twinning & Bunting
Freedom Street in Sheffield is creating bunting with people's faces printed on it. They are also twinning with street parties in Melbourne, Australia and a town in Guatemala.
5 street parties a year
One street has 5 street parties a year. Being a cul de sac, they just close off the road for May, twice in summer, Halloween and New Year.
90th Birthday
A street party was held to celebrate the 90th birthday of their eldest resident. He said it was the best day of his life.
