Street parties and special events

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About street parties

Street parties are one-off or annual events co-ordinated by residents. Street parties and fetes are a great way to bring the local community together.

There are many reasons you may wish to hold an event, for example:

Of course, it doesn’t have to be one of these occasions. We can help with any street celebrations in our community, from charity events to community gatherings and religious festivities.

Apply to have a street party

To hold a street party, you will need to request a road closure for your street. You need to get together a minimum of 3 other households, in your area, to help take responsibility of your party.

Complete the Street Party form (PDF, 0.2MB)

Then send it to our team at HighwaysCorrespondence@barnet.gov.uk and they'll get back to you.

Make sure you download the form onto your desktop before filling it out.

We request application forms are submitted at least 6 weeks before the event. This will allow us time check the suitability of your request.

Apply for parades, walks, or processions

Parades, walks, and processions within an area need a rolling road closure.

To apply for the permission, please email us the details at HighwaysCorrespondence@Barnet.gov.uk

Share all the relevant details with us, so that we can process the application and make appropriate decision.

Fees

At present there is no fee payable to us for holding a street party. There is a fee for large events and those held for a commercial purpose, but small events (such as street parties and community events) are exempt from any fee for a road closure.

Road closures

Once your application is approved, we can help to control traffic use in your road. We can provide road closure signs at the entrance(s) of the street to make sure your party/event runs smoothly. If required, signs and cones will be dropped off at the location up to the morning of your street party. The road can be closed for the agreed time and within the agreed area.

All other arrangements are your responsibility.

When your application might be rejected

We aim to help to with any street celebrations in our community. However, there might be instances when your application gets rejected.

  • the application was not submitted in time
  • incomplete or incorrect information was provided by the applicant
  • permission would not normally be granted on main roads/bus routes

If you would like to know more and discuss your application status, please call 020 8359 3555 or email us at HighwaysCorrespondence@Barnet.gov.uk

Tips to help

Be Considerate

Although most residents may want to attend your event, it is likely that not all residents in the surrounding areas will want to be disturbed by it, particularly in relation to noise.

Here are a few handy hints to ensure that everyone is happy with the event:

  • notify any near neighbours of your event, the time it will finish and a name and telephone number for them to contact if they are disturbed by it
  • if you have to talk louder against any music, then it is probably too loud for neighbours
  • the level of noise acceptable in the middle of the afternoon might not be acceptable at 9pm at night. Therefore, make sure the noise level is maintained at an acceptable level during the day and is lowered later in the evening when children or other residents might be trying to sleep
  • ensure that partying does not carry on outside the area of your event and that partygoers consider neighbouring residents when they leave
  • if you are having fireworks, then let them off earlier in the evening and not too late so that everyone can enjoy them

Think safety

We do not want to be the fun police, but we do want you to be safe at the party. To ensure that risks at your event are minimised, we recommend that you discuss key risks amongst the organisers and residents in advance. Some of the risks can be:

  • accidents, slips, and falls
  • burns such as on a BBQ
  • electricity
  • rain and other water
  • damage to equipment or breakages
  • bouncy castles

Consider the following important advice:

  • ensure a first aid box is available
  • emergency vehicles can get access to the road at all times
  • Make someone responsible for lifting any road closure barriers to allow vehicular access in the event of an emergency
  • Marshals should be visibly placed at the street closures to help deter any vehicles from attempting to ignore the closures
  • all electrical equipment must be properly earthed and connected to a circuit breaker
  • all temporary structures such as marquees and tents are safely secured
  • use plastic bottles and reusable plastic cups where possible to avoid accidents
  • agree in advance that everyone should take responsibility for themselves and watch out for each other, especially children and other vulnerable people
  • we cannot allow bunting to be hung from street lighting fixtures
  • buntings and other street decorations should only be hung after the street has been closed
  • bunting can be hung from trees within the defined street party area, care must be taken for your safety and for the wellbeing of the trees, so please refrain from using drawing pins/nails to hang bunting on trees
  • any bunting must be removed before the street reopens
  • you will need to clean up after your street party
  • notify the police about the event through their website

Insurance

Although Public Liability Insurance is not required for a road closure, residents are advised to consider whether they wish to take it out.

Further advice on this and on organising a street party in general is available from the national specialist group Streets Alive via www.streetparty.org.uk.

We ask you to consider all the risks and to read and complete the application form sections carefully