Street party

People and police officers on house balconies and on the street at the 2007 Mifflin Street Block Party in Madison, Wisconsin

A street party can mean any type of social event taking place on a road.

In Britain, these have historically been held to commemorate momentous events, such as VE Day or the Queen's Silver Jubilee, with "bunting, trestle tables covered with sandwiches and cakes, and children playing in the street". An estimated 10 million people took part in street parties in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee.

The British tradition began at the close of World War I as "peace teas" to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

For the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011, about 1million people mainly in England and Wales held street parties in 5,500 closed roads and in informal events. This was less than expected due to the spring date. More are expected to be held for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012.

Now street parties are held annually and 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. In the USA either can be called a 'block party'.

As a form of activism 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^{[citation needed]}, a widespread "dis-organization" dedicated to reclaiming public space from automobiles and consumerism. In a somewhat different context, Poland's Orange Alternative staged festive protests to break the Communist government's monopoly on public life.

See also

• Street reclaiming
• Tactical frivolity
• Block party
• Notting Hill Carnival

External links

• Street party