Street Party Toolkit
Download a copy of our street party toolkit. (PDF, 748 KB)
A street party is a social event right outside your front door! It is a great way to have fun and develop a sense of community spirit.
You can close your street for the day and meet your neighbours in a traffic-free environment. People can mingle easily and meet all their neighbours whatever their age and background.
Children have the chance to play together safely.
Having the party right outside your house, means that most people join in.
Things to consider
- Right at the beginning talk with your neighbours about the idea of a residents street party
- Create an organising group to plan your street party
- Find out what hidden talents, skills and experience your neighbours have
- When would be a good time to have your own street party?
- What ideas do they have for entertainment and activities during the day?
- Who could organise the different aspects of the event?
- Make an outline plan for the party and think how you would manage it
- How would you make your street safe for your street party?
- Will you be having any music at the Street Party or serving food or alcohol? If so, you may need a Temporary Events Notice.
Hints and Tips
These pages give you some suggestions on how to go about organising your street party.
More information can be found by visiting the street party site. This Guide is only for street parties which are organised by residents for themselves in one or two quiet streets, without external publicity. A wider public event in more streets needs extra arrangements.
Top Tips
- Close the road using wheelie bins
- Make use of the Street Party pack from the council
- Bring out chairs and tables
- String up some bunting
- Everyone brings food to share
- Have some live or recorded music
- Plan games and activities to get people mixing
- Have something for all ages and tastes
- Have a raffle on the day if you need to
- Keep it simple for your first event
Making it happen
Thinking of when to hold the party? Start planning as soon as possible! Sundays or bank holidays are better days for street parties as fewer people work and they are more of a family day.
Planning and Meetings
- Get others involved from the start
- Chat with a couple of neighbours you know
- Get together to post round invites to each house
- Hold 2 to 3 planning meetings
- Have them in the street to be more welcoming
- Share out the jobs and take notes.
Involve Everyone
Inviting people face to face is a must but you also need to send out paper invitations to your neighbours. No outside publicity is needed. Most neighbours will want to take part so allow for all tastes and put out lots of chairs for anyone who may need one.
More Ideas for Activities
- Face painting
- Cake competition gets them all out!
- Bring and Buy table or hold an auction
- Celebrate birthday of oldest person
- Best decorated wheelie bin or front door
- Tug of war, volleyball, skittles, swing ball
- Dancing - any sort, adults or teenage display
- Survey or petition on local issue.
What Can Go Wrong?
- Will people turn up on the day? Don't worry, they will, as most people are keen
- What to do if a resident really does not want the street party? Listen to them; they may have the wrong idea about it or they may worry about their car. Some people don't like parties, so if noise is kept low and you let people come and go, they should have no reason to stop you going ahead
- It won't rain all day! Cover things up and wait till it passes
- Kids can fall over, so all adults should watch out for them
- Gatecrashers and drinkers are not usually a problem if you finish before 10pm
- Don't have music too loud or too late
- Keep the BBQ safe
Road closures
You will need to apply to the council to close the road. Complete the Street Party application form and we will do all the legal bits for you.
The police, fire and ambulance services will be consulted for you. You will need to put out road closed signs and we will provide more information to you after you apply to help you with this too.
Can't close the road? Instead how about a 'Street Meet'. Use the pavement, parking bays, driveway, or front garden - anywhere you can get people together.
Street Parties and Fetes - Licences
Organising small, private street parties and fetes is very simple and generally does not include activities that need a licence, such as selling alcohol or providing certain types of entertainment.
If you want a pay bar or intend to provide entertainment to the wider public, or charge to raise money for your event then you will need a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) which is a small event licence.
You must give 10 working days notice for a TEN using the TEN application form. This is for events with an attendance of less that 500 people. Larger and public events (+500) require a different process and the Events Team will be happy to help you with this, please complete the Events Planning Form to let us know your plans and we will point you in the right direction and help you on your way.
Differences between private street parties/fetes and larger public events
Street Parties and Fetes
- For residents/neighbours only
- No licenses required if: There is no selling of alcohol, music played is background only.
- Self organised event
- Publicity limited to local residents
Larger Public Events
- Anyone can attend
- External Publicity beyond your street, local area/club etc
- Event Licenses will be required
- Public Liability Insurance required
- Risk Assessment and Event management plans
- Professional and Skilled organisers
Contact the licensing team
- Email: licensing@preston.gov.uk
- Telephone: 01772 906491
Street Parties and Fetes - Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need insurance cover?
We strongly recommend that Public Liability Insurance for small residential street parties or community events is obtained. This is because you are responsible for anything that might go wrong.
Insurance protects you as the organiser for unforeseen incidents. You will find it helpful to visit the Street Party website and The Big Lunch website for further advice.
Quotes for insurance start from as little as £50.
The costs can always be split between residents, or you could hold a raffle or ask for donations to cover the costs. Insurance is not mandatory and will not affect the outcome of your application and the event taking place. It is however there to protect you and the people attending the event.
Do I need to do a risk assessment?
Preston City Council do not ask for a risk assessment for small street parties, but you may wish to think about how you can minimise things going wrong and have a backup plan, for example - what would you do if there was bad weather? Have you made sure an adult is in charge of the barbecue etc and there are no trailing cables.
For inflatable equipment, like bouncy castles, we would require that these are not placed on the highway and instead placed within the garden of a property. Exclusions also exist for other more risky activities such as fireworks which will not be allowed to be set off on the highway.
Do we need a permit to serve food?
No, as a private party, you do not need a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 to sell food (unless you want to only sell hot food and drink after 11pm).
Remember you can always ask your neighbours to bake a cake, make a sandwich or bring food to share with one another. This is also a good way to bring different groups of people together.
We're serving alcoholic drinks - do we need an alcohol licence?
No, licences are only required if alcohol is sold. At a private party, sharing drinks with your neighbours does not require a licence.
If you do want to sell alcohol, you will need to contact your council for a Temporary Events Notice form.
We are playing music - do we need an entertainment licence?
No - if your street party is a private party for residents and the music is not advertised in advance to attract people, and you are not making money there is no need for a licence for your music whether its live or recorded.
We're having a tombola / raffle - do we need permits?
Probably not. If the tombola, raffle tickets are sold on the day and prizes are not worth more than £500 in total then it will be exempt from gambling regulations (however, if tickets are sold in advance of the event, you will need a lottery registration but do speak to your council first).
Any proceeds from the tombola, raffle must go to a good cause such as a charity or event covering the costs of your party. Alternatively, if you did want to raise some money for your local church or charity, you can always ask people for donations.
Do we need to clean up afterwards?
Yes, you will need to clean up after your street party. Its your street, your party, so keep your local area clean and tidy. Let people know in advance what time the party will finish and have a section set aside for bin bags and recycling.
Get In Touch
- Email: events@preston.gov.uk
- Telephone: 01772 903663
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