Why organise a Street Party? Street parties are a great way to get to know your neighbours better and build a sense of community, trust and joy in your area.
Is it hard/expensive? It doesn’t have to cost anything and it’s easy to put together if there’s appetite for it.
All right, I’m in. Where do I start? Follow the steps below and get started on organising your very own street party!
1. The first step is to talk to your neighbours and ask if they like the idea of a street party. You do not need any prior experience, and you don’t need to have lived on your street for decades. I initially felt a bit odd organising my street party as I’m not British and I had only lived on my street for a year when I first went ahead with it. But all my neighbours were pleased that someone was reviving what had been a yearly tradition pre-COVID. Talking to your neighbours can be done when you see them on the streets or via the street Whatsapp if you have one. If you don’t, why not set one up? It’s really useful to communicate on local stuff. Ask if anyone would like to help you. If you have a couple of people interested, set up a small organising committee and Whatsapp group.
2. The second step is to pick a date. Street parties tend to be on Saturdays and Sunday in the spring and summer (for obvious weather-related reasons). To pick the exact date, you need to consider the fact that paperwork related to a road closure can take up to 2 months so do plan ahead. Narrow it down to 4-5 dates that are good for the organising committee, are far enough in the future, and set up a poll on the street Whatsapp for people to vote. You also need to decide on hours during which your street will be closed to traffic. A typical street party will be from 12pm until 7pm but it’s really up to you and your neighbours to decide what seems sensible. It’s obviously important to end at a reasonable time so that everyone can enjoy a quiet street after a busy day.
3. Once you have your date, the third step is to contact your neighbourhood officer and councillors. Your councillors’ contact information can be found here and the Neighbourhood team can be emailed at yourneighbourhoodfund@manchester.gov.uk. Inform them of your plans and ask them if they will support your street party (and put you in touch with your neighbourhood officer if you don’t know them). Concretely speaking, this will help you when you apply for a NIF (Neighbourhood Investment Fund) grant which will cover the cost of the Temporary Traffic Restriction Order (TTRO) to close the road for a day.
4. The fourth step is to fill in the NIF grant application. It is a pretty straightforward process. You will have to write a paragraph about why you want to organise a party. Simply stating that you want your neighbours to get to know each other and children to run around and play in the street is enough! Working with a local charity that can be named on the NIF grant application on your behalf and accept the money makes things easier. Streets for People Levenshulme/Burnage is happy to support your application! You will have to list the cost of the project (in this case, simply enter the cost of the road closure permission, which is currently £167) and what goals it supports (in this case you can click on ‘encourage active travel’ ‘engage people on the environment’ and ‘enhance nature and biodiversity’ as closing the street for a day will lower air pollution levels and encourage people to walk/cycle more).
5. In parallel (do not wait until you hear back from the NIF grant application!) apply for the road closure permission on the Manchester City Council website. Indicate the date and time. Note the application number and, if you haven’t heard back after a week, email the Highway team (highwaynetworkmanagement@manchester.gov.uk) and ask for an update. The application form goes to a general email address so it’s best to check it is being dealt with. Once accepted, it’s not unusual for the NIF grant money to be redirected directly to the Highway team without it even going into the charity’s bank account. This makes things more straightforward for everyone involved!
6. Once you’ve received a go-ahead from the council, you can start planning things in earnest. Do you want to have free bike fixing? Contact us at Streets For People as we may have capacity! Will you be having music? Decoration? Kids activities (face painting, outdoor games, etc.)? Do you want to set up a “for free” area with pre-loved toys and clothes? A plant swap? It’s up to you and your neighbours: your party can be pretty simple (everyone brings food to share and chairs to sit on) or more elaborate with collaborations with local groups and other streets. Ask around if anyone has folding tables and chairs they can bring outside and a sound system (music is a must!). If you don’t have any of these, consider borrowing some from the Library of Things which has everything you need for a successful Street Party, including bunting, chairs, tables, sound system and plastic reusable plates and cutlery.
7. As you get closer to the date, send periodic reminders to your neighbours. If people realise that they will need to access their car and drive through the street during the street party hours, that’s fine! It’s a good thing to know ahead so you can plan to escort your neighbours’ car(s) through the closed street. Arrange a time and date with your neighbourhood officer for them to drop off the “road closed” signs and cones; they will also take care of posting the TTRO advisory signs around the street.
8. The day before the street party, make sure to remind everyone to park their car outside of the street (if possible) to leave as much space as possible for tables and chairs and for kids to run/cycle around freely (believe, me there’s nothing more annoying than when, in the middle of a pickle game, a ball gets stuck underneath a parked car). Prepare bin bags and tape so you have an area for the rubbish (on the day, you can also roll a recycling bin to the main area, so cans and glass are easily recycled).
9. The morning of the party, remind everyone of the time when the road will be closed and when the festivities will start. When the time comes, get the road closure signs out and close the street to traffic! It can be a bit nerve-wracking, but you are doing this legally so just go ahead. Now is the time to party. Get the outdoor games, party food, plates, cutlery and drinks out and enjoy! Be ready to escort cars at pre-arranged times if you do have some car trips that have to happen during the closure hours. If someone wants to drive passed the road closed signs, ask them if they can park nearby and walk. If they insist on driving through the street, escort them slowly through, giving people enough time to move their activities to the pavement. Safety is key!
10. It’s the end of the party! All that’s left to do is to clean up the area (but if you’ve arranged a rubbish area this should be straightforward). At the planned time, remove the road closure signs and call it a day. Thank everyone on that Whatsapp for their contributions and put your feet up. You’ve done it!