Guide to organising a street party or fete
What is a street party?
Street parties and fetes are get-togethers that groups of residents arrange for their neighbours. The main differences between a street party or fete and larger public events are listed below.
Differences between street parties and public events
- Street party
- For residents and surrounding neighbours
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Anyone can attend
- Street party
- Publicity only for residents
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- External publicity (such as online or posters)
- Street party
- In a house or garden, local green space, or a quiet residential road
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- In a public building or park
- Street party
- Providing your own food
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Hot foot and drinks served after 11pm
- Street party
- No sale of alcohol
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Sale of alcohol
- Street party
- No live music
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Live music
- Street party
- No entrance fee
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Entrance fee
- Street party
- Selling tickets for a raffle for a charity or good cause on the day and your prizes are less than £500
- Public event (temporary event notice required)
- Selling raffle tickets in advance
What you need to do
Organising small, private street parties and fetes is very simple and generally doesn't include activities that need a licence, such as selling alcohol or providing certain types of entertainment. To apply to have a road closed for a street party, please complete our application to close a public highway for a street party form.
If you want to have a pay bar, or intend to provide entertainment to the wider public, or charge to raise money for your event, you'll need one of the following licences:
- For events where up to 499 people will be attending, where alcohol will be sold or there's a publicised programme of entertainment, a temporary events notice is required
- For events where 500 or more people are attending, a temporary premises licence is required.
Further information
The top tip for holding a party is to plan early. For more tips and advice on organising a successful street party, take a look at our guide and the Streets Alive and Big Lunch websites.
Remember the emergency services
An emergency can happen at any time and may involve a premises within the street, but not part of the street party.
Some, mainly business, premises are on autodial to alarm receiving centres so you may not be aware that we're on our way to an automatic fire alarm in your street and need access.
As the event organiser(s), you need to be aware of this possibility and maildrop all businesses, flats and homes on your street so that they're aware of the street closure and your street party.
What do I need to remember on the day?
- Ensure the road closure signs or barriers used to close the street are easily moveable to allow quick access for attending fire or other emergency services
- Consider using easily moveable wheelie bins. Don't park vehicles across the street
- Don't block the road with large obstacles, such as heavy tables or large gazebos that require time to dismantle or move
- Ensure any vehicles are moved out of the street to give more room for the street party, but in doing so don't block access to neighbouring premises or streets
- A fire appliance will need at least a 3.5m width to pass through any obstacle or street
- Don't block or cover over fire hydrants
Do we need a risk assessment?
We'd expect a risk plan to be in place for larger events. However, even for small street parties you may wish to consider how you can minimise the chance of things going wrong, and have a back up plan. For example - what would you do in the event of bad weather? Can you use plastic cups rather than glass?
Do we need insurance cover?
If you're organising a small residential street party, you could be exposed to a liability claim, so we would recommend that you to take out some form of public liability insurance. 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.
We're serving alcoholic drinks - do we need an alcohol licence?
Licences are only required if alcohol is sold. At a private party, sharing drinks with your neighbours doesn't require a licence. If you do intend to sell alcohol, you'll need to contact your council for a temporary events notice, or a temporary premises licence, depending on the size of the event.
Can we charge for entry to our event?
You can charge for entry, but an event where alcohol or entertainment are included would require a licence as above.
Do we need a permit to serve food?
As a private party, you don't need a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 to sell food (unless you intend to only sell hot food and drink after 11pm).
Do we need to clean up afterwards?
Yes, you'll need to clean up after your street party. It's your street and 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.
We hope this guidance has made things easier for you. Good luck with your event!