Block Party Planning

OK well I have been in my neighborhood for a year now and we are on a small dead end like 11 houses........

I was thinking about trying to organize a block party for next year..my neighbor said they used to have one but most of the people on our block moved away and everyone is fairly new (2oo4 and on)

Has anyone been the organizer??

I was thinking about sending a letter introducing myself and seeing who would be interested in doing one and if so do they have lil kids or will kids be invited to their house so I can have some activities for them..is that cheesy??

How do I get the ball rolling

How much did each house contribute? We have a small block so I would feel bad if it was a high number ya know

any advice would be greatly appreciated

Re: Block Party Planning

We have an annual block party and we have about 150 homes in the neighborhood.

*Each family that intends to attend is asked to give $25
*food is not provided, but a BBQ to grill on is lent by one of the neighbors
*they hire a DJ and a cotton candy machine (along with a guy to hand it out)
*they rent a large blowup bouncer
*they also rent a Port-a-Potty

In the past they've had kegs, but this year it's BYO to help prevent underage drinking.

I'm pretty sure our organizers have to get a permit b/c we block off a road from both sides with town horses.


About 2 months in advance, the 2 women who run the BP send out a letter/form with info regarding the party (date, raindate, etc..) At the bottom of the letter is a form that is filled out by each family attending with info regarding # of kids, name/address of family attending. They also ask for activity ideas (ex: egg on a spoon race) and volunteers to run those activities. This part is given to the organizers with the $. I believe they gave prizes to those who won the activities. I don't recall if they had things for the kids b/c in the past we didn't have DD yet or she was too young.

Hope that helps a little.

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wow 150 homes

we have 11!



thanks!


anyone else??????????????????????????????????

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Im going to be honest. We have a block party every year. It was this past saturday.

Next year im not sure im going to participate. They ask for well over 100.00 every year. I had to then buy well over 200.00 for food and beer for my family.

This year my husband took beer away from some 15 year old girls sitting on my lawn. No idea where they came from or where they got the beer. A little while later one of the girls threw up all over the lawn.

It cost way to much and my neighbor organizes and doesn't ask anyone what they want (like cotton candy machine blow up slide) she just gets it. Last year they had a big blow up slide and not one kid went on it.

I asked her to have a meeting so we could talk about things and she said she would and never did.

I already spoke to one of my neighbors and she said the same thing. She probably wont participate.

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Growing up we had one. The DJ came each house chipped in 25 for the DJ they also did a 50/50 to offset the cost.

Each house set up a game and all through out the day the kids would go from house to house and play each game. The morning started with Bagels at someones house. All of us kids would ride our bikes in the street. We were all so excited that we could do that once a year.

I told my neighbor this year I thought we should do this to cut out the other stuff and safe money and she said yeah yeah yead and it never happend.

Really the block party is for the kids. They should enjoy it the most. I have no kids. I have no kids that really come. I wouldn't mind hosting a game at my house for the kids but to pay for a slide that none of my company can use (and NO ONE WENT ON ANYWAY)


My friend is having her block party next year. They aren't getting a dj so it's free. They have some big speakers they are going to be putting out

The DJ this year was useless anyway he played crap and no one danced.

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We just moved last year - so we have only gone to one so far - we are having another here in Sept (new organizers this year).

They did not consult anyone on the date - they just pick one. It is just our block. They ask for $50 per household. Not sure about this year but last year they had a huge bouncer that was climbing, slides, water in the afternoon and some sprinklers (DD was only 8 or 9 weeks so she obviously didn't participate but we walked around). They had popcorn maker, snow cones, and I think but could be wrong a face painter. The DJ started around 5 and went to 10pm. The DJ did games (water balloons, musical chairs) for both the kids and the adults. We had about 50-65 kids running around of all ages. Many houses have elderly couples and they did not participate.

If you only have 11 houses - Maybe I would go door to door with a flyer and say 2-3 dates and try to pick the one that most people are available. Although at this time it might be hard with the little notice. I would try for a DJ and maybe some games. I don't think you need too much for only 11 houses.

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We have an annual block party too. It is $35 per house. About 15-20 houses participate. It is really a fun day. The morning/afternoon is fairly quiet with everyone setting up and just socilaizing.
The DJ is from 4:00-10:00 and plays a bunch of games for the kids and adults (water balloon toss, musical chairs, hula hoops ect...) We do a pinata and some small crafts or tattos for the kids a blow up bounce house, although I dont think this is necassary since the kids have fun just running around

The organizers send a letter around 2 months before hand asking for the $$ and tell us the date and apply for the permit. About 3 weeks before hand we get an itinerary for the day.

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My DH & our neighbor recently started a "committee" for our block party.....this Saturday will be the first block party EVER on out block !

They contacted the town and were sent the application package, picked the date etc. Then started by getting signatures from all the neighbors. I believe you just need a majority because 2 or 3 houses said no. Some people signed that they allowed the party even if they wouldn't be attending.

Then they went around putting fliers in all the neighbors mailboxes inviting them to the 1st meeting. Then the people that showed up decided on the different events and prizes. Then they went out to collect money leaving notes for people that weren't home. She gave everyone that paid a receipt and an automatic raffle ticket entry. We had a second meeting and then this week they went around again handing out the final "schedule of events" for the day.

We decided to only collect $25 bucks since it's the first year. So we can't afford a dj or a bouncy thing which isn't necessary anyway since we don't have many kids. We plan to do a 50/50 raffle and whatever money is left over will go towards next years party. We figured since it's the first year we should start out small and hopefully it'll grow bigger & better every year.

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You mentioned you're on a dead end, but are there other streets that are worth getting involved? Any streets/homes within walking distance to your dead end?

I've attached a map image to show you just how many streets & homes are involved (red lines) in the block party. The blue line is the street we block off from traffic.



It's kind of easier for us to have a border because the remaining streets to the west of my neighborhood go to a different school district. I guess the mentality is "within walking distance". People use their cars for setup at 4pm, bring their cars back and then the party starts at 5pm. People come back with their cars around 10pm to collect their tables, chairs, coolers, etc..

Message edited 8/26/2008 11:53:10 AM.

Re: Block Party Planning

I organized one (with two other neighbors) on my mom's block about 3 years ago...

We had about 20 houses on the block.

We actually went door to door asking people if they wanted to participate and what date worked (we picked out two). It was to be more neighborly.

We didn't ask anyone what they wanted either.

We knew we wanted a DJ, a bouncy, an ice cream truck to stop by, and a volleyball net set up. So we figured out the cost of those and figured out the price per house - since we already knew how many would participate.

We also did a 50-50.

We didn't go crazy, kept the cost low and it was a great success.

Re: Block Party Planning

I organize my block party. Our parties are usually in August as a way to finish off the summer.
First I send a letter out requesting dates that are good for all the families. We have about 20 houses participate. I find a common date that is good and work with that. I then do all the research. This year it was $60 per house and we got a 65ft obstacle course (www.bouncewithus.net ) and a neighbor has a friend who owns a commercial size bouncer so there is no charge for that. I got a dunk tank (all day) and I had Ralphs italian ices come by. They don't charge a fee, but they increase the price of the ices by 50 cents because they are coming to you. I also had this year a face painter/balloons/tattoos/cotton candy.

I used all the same vendors as previous years and they worked on the price with me otherwise we wouldn't have had the facepaint package.

As the pp's said, food wasn't included. everyone buys food/drinks for themselves.

You usually need to give the town about 3 months in advance. You have to go around and get everyones signatures with thier address and yes (that they are ok with the block party)

you have to put where the road will be blocked off at.

If you have any other questions, please FM me.

We live in the town of Huntington if that helps

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Message edited 8/26/2008 3:18:28 PM.

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Message edited 8/26/2008 3:26:26 PM.

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thanks everyone

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Message edited 8/26/2008 4:02:08 PM.

Re: Block Party Planning

Posted by Chatham-Chick


Ok, I can understand your frustrations. I can't imagine paying 100 bucks for a block party, nor 30 for ice cream. Sounds like your organizers aren't very good with numbers or negotiating with vendors. Granted, it sounds like you have less homes participating in a block party which would jack up the price, but the numbers just don't seem right. If 30 bucks per household was needed for the ice cream man, than that idea would be nixed and I'd be requesting $5-10 p/household and buying frozen treats at Costco for the party.


ETA: Sorry for the hijack dbleplay!