Street parties

We welcome street party applications as they can help bring the community together.

Clean Air Day and Car Free Day 2023

Celebrating Clear Air Day and Car Free Day with your neighbours is a great way to bring the local community together, allow people to experience streets free of motor traffic, give children the space to play safely and reduce air pollution.

To encourage residents to come together, there will be no charge for Clean Air Day and Car Free Day street parties.

The application windows for this year are:

• Clean Air Day (15 June 2023) - applications for road closures between 17 and 18 June should be submitted from 1 to 31 May 2023
• Car Free Day (22 September 2023) - applications for road closures between 23 and 24 September should be submitted from 15 July to 31 August 2023

What is a street party?

This information and application process is for small streets parties organised by residents of their street only.

Larger public events require a different application process. If you would like to hold a larger public event contact us for advice.

In the spirit of community and social cohesion, street parties are meant to be self-organised and self-funded.

The ethos of a residential street party is that the party is free for residents and is organised on a 'bring-to-share' basis. Therefore, you cannot charge residents to attend a street party.

The main differences between a small street party and larger public events are listed in the table below.

Types of events

Street parties	Larger public events
For neighbours or residents only	Anyone can attend
Publicised only to neighbours or residents	Wider publicity (such as newspapers)
Licences not normally needed	Licence usually needed
No formal risk assessment needed	Risk assessment normally needed
Insurance not needed	Insurance needed
Self-organised	Professional organisers
No charge for attending	Possible charge for attending

If you want to have a paid bar, or intend to provide entertainment to the wider public, or raise money for charity, you will need a Temporary Event Notice.

Please note we do not approve the use of bouncy castles or structures on the highway.

Insurance cover

In most cases you do not need public liability insurance cover for a small residential street party. But where you think insurance would be a good idea you might find it helpful to visit Streets Alive and The Big Lunch for further advice. The costs can always be split between residents, or you could hold a raffle or ask for donations to cover the costs.

Risk assessment

In most cases you do not need a risk plan for small street parties, but you may wish to think about how you can minimise risks and have a back-up plan.

For example:

• What you would do if there was bad weather
• Use of reusable plastic plates and cups rather than glass
• Making sure an adult is in charge of the barbeque

Signage and closing the street

If you are formally closing your road, there must be very clear signs placed on display at the road closure points. Appropriate signs can be hired from most hire shops or from us at a charge of £15 per sign.

Alcohol licence

Alcohol licences are only required if alcohol is sold. At a private party, sharing drinks with your neighbours does not require a licence. If you did want to sell alcohol, you need a Temporary Event Notice.

Entertainment licence

You will not need an entertainment licence if:

• Your street party is private for residents only
• The music is not advertised in advance to attract people (live or recorded)
• You are not making money

Permit to serve food

As a private party, you do not need a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 to sell food (unless you wanted to only sell hot food and drink after 11pm). You can always ask your neighbours to bake a cake, make a sandwich or bring food to share with one another.

Permission to have a tombola or raffle

You won't probably need permission to have a tombola or raffle but this depends on the circumstances. If the tombola or raffle tickets are sold on the day and the 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 to contact us for a lottery registration.

Any proceeds from the tombola or raffle must go to a good cause such as charity or even covering the cost 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.

Cleaning up afterwards

You will need to clean up after your street party. Let people know in advance what time the party will finish and have a section set aside for bin bags and recycling. Take your rubbish and recycling home, this will be collected on your normal collection day. If you have too much recycling to store, take it to your local recycling site.

Do not leave bin bags on the streets as this may attract foxes and vermin.

Cost

There is currently a charge of £70 for street parties. 

We will not charge any costs for Clean Air Day and Car Free Day street parties. 

How to apply

Before you start, make sure you have read all the guidance on this page.

To host a street party you will need to complete our online application form.

You must complete your application at least six weeks before the street party is to be held. 

For more information call us on 020 8891 1411.