A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community 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, 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 repertoir ...

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 t ...

s. As a form of

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

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

Countries

Poland

Poland Orange Alternative staged festive protests to break the Communist government'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 or for royal events such as jubilees, with

bunting Bunting may refer to: Animals Birds * Bunting (bird) or Emberizidae, a family of Eurasian and African passerine birds * New World buntings or ''Passerina'', a genus of American passerine birds in the family Cardinalidae * Blue bunting, a species ...

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 as residents' organized "peace teas" to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The tradition was boosted for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011 with about 1 million people joining in street parties. For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 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 World War I innovation originating from the East Side of New York City, 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, 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. Man ...

and Memorial Day. 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, karaoke, and group dancing such as the Electric Slide, the Macarena or

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.

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