A block party or street party is a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

in which many members of a single

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

to vehicle traffic or just a single street. Many times, there will be a celebration in the form of playing

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, games,

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and activities with food such as popcorn machines and

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...

s. As a form of

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

street parties are festive and/or artistic efforts to reclaim roadways as public space by large groups of people. They were made known in Western Europe and North America by the actions of

Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisa ...

, a widespread "dis-organization" dedicated to reclaiming public space from automobiles and

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

Countries

Poland

Poland Orange Alternative staged festive protests to break the

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

's monopoly on public life.

United Kingdom

Royal wedding street parties main 480 29april2011

In the UK, street parties are mainly known as private residents' events without wider neighbourhood publicity and have a festive cultural meaning, especially in England and southern Wales. They have historically been held to commemorate major national events, such as

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

or for royal events such as

jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...

, with bunting dressing the street, and children having fun in the street. An estimated 10 million people took part in street parties in 1977 for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The tradition seems to have begun in England and Wales after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as residents' organized "peace teas" to celebrate the signing of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

in 1919. The tradition was boosted for the

wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship sinc ...

in April 2011 with about 1 million people joining in street parties. For the

Queen's Diamond Jubilee The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...

in June 2012 about 2 million took part. Some street parties are held annually or at any time for residents to meet their neighbours in a traffic-free street in a private street party. Some "street parties" are public events taking many forms. An application may need to be made to the local authority to close a road for a street party who will arrange a temporary traffic regulation order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The council may charge a fee if traffic needs to be diverted.

United States

Block parties are reported as a

innovation originating from the East Side of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where an entire block was insulated and patriotic songs sung and a parade held to honor the members of that block who had gone off to war.Fiocco v. Carver, 234 NY 219 (1922) Traditionally, many inner city block parties were actually held illegally, because they did not file for an event permit from the local authorities. However, police turned a blind eye to them. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, block parties usually occur on holidays such as

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

and

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. Some towns may also have an annual block party. Block parties gained popularity in the United States during the 1970s, particularly within the hip hop community. Block parties were often held outdoors and power for the DJ's sound system was taken illegally from streetlights, as referenced in the song "South Bronx" by

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

. Sometimes, the occasion may be a theme such as a recent popular film or "welcome to our town" for a new family. Often block parties involve barbecues and lawn games such as

Simon Says Simon Says is a children's game for three or more players. One player takes the role of "Simon" and issues instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should be follow ...

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

, and group dancing such as the

Electric Slide The Electric (better known as The Electric Slide) is a four wall line dance set to Marcia Griffiths and Bunny Wailer's song "Electric Boogie". Choreographer, pianist and Broadway performer Richard L. "Ric" Silver created the dance in 1976 fro ...

, the

Macarena "Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...

line dancing A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight, ...

. In many small towns, the local fire department may also participate in the party, bringing out trucks that they display for show.

References

External links

Street party
{{Authority control Parties Social phenomena DIY culture