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I feel like we all are craving human contact even more than ever, and this summer is the perfect opportunity to reengage with your community. Get to know your neighbors again, you may even have new ones that have moved into the neighborhood that you haven’t even met yet. This is the perfect summer to plan your first neighborhood block party!
A few years back (pre-covid) my husband and I were fairly new to our neighborhood. When our next door neighbor asked if I would help her organize a block party I jumped at the chance to get to know more of my neighbors beyond the friendly wave as we walked by with our dogs.
Neither of us had thrown a block party before but we figured we were up to the challenge. We made a few mistakes along the way but in the end it all turned out and we got to know so many wonderful people in our community.
Hopefully we can save you a little stress we endured and give you some advice and guidance we wished we had going into it! Follow these steps and your planning journey will be much smoother than ours was!
1. Decide when you want to have your party
Typically a Saturday or Sunday is going to be the easiest days to plan for a block party. Though there is no rule it has to be on a weekend it will most likely give you the best attendance. Some other points to consider is I generally would recommend avoiding holiday weekends such as Labor day or
Memorial day. We found that a lot of our neighbors travel out of town on those long weekends or had other plans already. We decided to plan our block party for early September as our summer weekends were already so booked up and the weather in September was typically still great. I think late spring would also be great. Planning a get together right before kids get out of school for the year might be a great opportunity for them to ignite friendships with kids that live nearby but go to different schools during the year. No matter what day you choose I recommend planning the party no less than 4-6weeks ahead of time.
2. Decide where you want to host the party
Depending on your neighborhood you may have the option to host the party in a large backyard, or a park area, or more commonly you can block off the street for the day. Just make sure there is enough room for people to mingle, sit, and a place to set up food & coolers conveniently.
3. Obtain proper authorization
If you are choosing to host at a park or block the street for your event you may need to contact your city for a permit. Our city had all the information we needed on the city website. Since we were choosing to block half of our city block we needed to complete a simple one page request with address, date and times. They also required that we receive authorization signatures from all our neighbors who would be affected by the road closure the day of our party. We had decided only to section off half our city block which was plenty of space for us, but also reduced the number of signatures we needed to obtain. Any questions with this I do recommend calling your city permit department directly, better to ask questions ahead of time than to jump through hoops if you don’t provide the proper information. Also note it can take a couple weeks to get your permit approved so do not procrastinate this step!
4. Let your neighbors know your plan
We figured since we were needed to get signatures for our permit we might as well print off a “save the date” type flier to hand out as well. As we walked door to door for signatures we handed them a flier. Many commented they liked how it allowed them to plan ahead so they could leave the date open.
PRO TIP: You are not legally allowed to leave anything in peoples mailboxes- even with good intentions. So if you are leaving fliers for folks who aren’t home, tuck them between screen doors if possible or bring rubber bands and loop them to door knobs.
5.Plan the entertainment
You probably know many of your neighbors but I am sure there are a few who are newer or perhaps not as social so having games or actives is a great way to break the ice of encourage people to mingle. Nobody wants to go to a party and sit awkwardly at a table with your own family and not talk to anyone else. I suggest having at least 3-4 simple activities available and remember to try to choose a variety of things that will appeal to a variety of age groups. These activities do not need to be elaborate. Simple yard games, sidewalk chalk, bubbles and crafts done in the street suddenly seem like more fun than usual just because you are in the street! The idea is to provide some opportunity for people to mingle if they want to and to keep kids entertained while the moms and dads hang out too!
6. Feed the masses
A party is not complete without good food and a block party is no different! Feeding infinite number of people can not only be challenging but also extremely costly. I have seen block parties where they had a food truck come for a few hours, and some where grills were provided but the invitation was BYOM- bring your own meat. A few simple sides and snack were provided by the hosting family to round out the spread.
We decided to do the opposite and provide the meat and ask that each family bring a dish to share. I have a wonderful recipe for pulled pork sandwiches that feeds a crowd and is incredibly easy to prepare in a Nesco. (bonus it freezes well if you over estimate how much you need like we did! Find the recipe HERE) When it comes to calculating how much you will need it can be tricky without requiring a RSVP like most parties would have. We roughly counted the number of people we were going to invite and assumed half might not come or if they did they may not eat much. Had I stuck to this thinking I would have been better off but last minute I bought more meat “just in case” and ended up cooking way too much after all. Save yourself the money and time and stick to the 50% rule.
7. Invitations
You will need to give everyone an invitation with all the details of the party approximately 3-4 weeks before your date. We simply created a basic flier on Microsoft Word with a few picnic type images to make it look festive. We printed them in color and once again walked door to door distributing them. Don’t forget in addition to the date and time details be sure to tell them if they need to bring any food, drinks, or lawn chairs. You may also want to include an email address for contact in case anyone has questions or wants to chip in and help in anyway.
PRO TIP: If you plan on making this an annual affair you might consider creating a new free email dedicated for the event, something like “cherry.st.blockparty@gmail” Giving access to anyone else helping you plan the party will allow everyone to share the communication load.
8. Shop til you drop
You will want to shop for food the week of the party. Any further out and you risk the food going bad before the event. In addition to the food don’t forget to consider paper goods- plates, napkins, silverware, trash bags, etc… Also reach out to your friends, family or other neighbors to see who can borrow you tables, chairs or other supplies.
PRO TIP- At all my parties I like to provide gallon zip-lock bags for anyone wanting to sneak leftovers home after the party! This saves me from wasting food and I am not giving all my reusable containers away.
9. Night before the party
Save yourself unnecessary stress and do as much as you can the night before! Wash your coolers. Set out all your supplies (food, games, paper goods, etc..) in one central spot like your kitchen table. If you have food to cook and you can do it ahead of time without ruining it- then do it! The more you can get done the night before the less stress you will have on party day and the more you will be able to relax and enjoy the party- trust me!
10. Party Day!
Hopefully on party day you only have a few last minute things to gather or cook before it begins- complete these as early in the day as you can. The goal is to be completely ready 1 hour before the party actually begins, that way you can be ready to meet and greet even the earliest of guests.
Set your tables up for food in one long buffet line out of the sun if possible (nobody likes warm fruit salad). Same goes for coolers if you are using them- tuck them under a shady tree or better yet inside a garage with the door open so people can grab food and drinks and it can stay nice and cool.
Get your games and activities staged away from eating area. This tends to be where the kids congregate and folks may want to chat while they eat without distraction of flying bean bags or soapy bubbles popping on their plates.
I also suggest playing music. You don’t want it so loud that people can’t hold on conversations but lively summer tunes will get people in the party mood. Silence can feel weird, especially if you don’t know everyone well so the background noise will be welcome. Just remember to keep it family friendly- avoid the heavy stuff for this event- we don’t want to be responsible for the neighbors toddler learning a new four letter word at your party!
My last word of advice is make rounds and try to greet everyone and thank them for coming. Take the opportunity to get to know your community. Hell you might even meet another stay at home mom who wants to do play dates, or a fellow runner who needs a morning jogging buddy, or maybe you just sit and talk to the sweet couple that has lived on your block for 30 years and they tell you what the neighborhood used to look like when they moved in all those years ago.
I hope you are able to use this advice and plan an amazing (hopefully annual) block party for your own neighborhood. Get out there, get to know each other again, have some fun & grow your village!
