Royal wedding street parties: where to celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding is set to be a
highlight in the UK’s social calendar this year – and part and
parcel of any royal event is a good old fashioned British street
party.

It is estimated that around ten million people
attended street parties in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee of Queen
Elizabeth.

While in 2011, Kent held the largest number of street
celebrations for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate
Middleton. The county was followed by Cambridgeshire, Milton
Keynes, and South Gloucestershire, according to figures from the
campaign group Republic.

This year, the BBC has
announced it has “waived the TV licence fee for communities wanting
to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding”.



It means street parties can screen the wedding live without buying
a licence.

The government said hundreds of street party applications have
been made to councils to mark the wedding on 19 May.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said
about 60 applications have been made in Bromley, 54 in Richmond,
and 12 in Reading.

Parliamentary under-secretary of state Jake Berry MP
said: “We’ve made it easier than ever for local residents from all
backgrounds to come together to celebrate the royal wedding and we
hope councils will get into the spirit by helping people wishing to
organise street parties.



“With the FA Cup final taking place on the same day, there’s never
been a better reason to hold a street party.”

Where are street parties happening this
year?

Bristol is “regarded as the nation’s street party
capital, with more than 100 events taking place each year”,
says The Daily Telegraph. Other “party-happy” cities
include Oxford, Brighton and Southampton.

The nave of Winchester Cathedral will host a live-screen of the royal wedding, before
members of the public will be invited outside to enjoy food, drinks
and family friendly entertainment.  

Royal wedding celebrations will be incorporated into
this year’s Chelsea in
Bloom flower show, which transforms the streets of the west
London borough into a walkable artistic visual experience.

In Nottingham, the local authority announced
that street party organisers can apply for a grant of up to £200,
so it would be safe to expect many events will take place on the
day.

How to hold your own street
party

With less than three weeks to go before Meghan and
Harry’s wedding, the not-for-profit organisation Streets Alive
recommends keeping it simple. “Avoid committees and unnecessary
bureaucracy, or the whole thing will grind to a halt,” founder
Chris Gittins told The Times. “All you need is a network of
active people. Everyone is automatically invited because it is
their street.”

The organisational process is, Gittins says,
three-quarters of the event, “because the relationships you build
with your neighbours last forever”.

If the party is private and for residents only, you
may not need a formal Risk Assessment, says The Telegraph. “Parties on a quiet street that
will not affect surrounding roads are classed as small events.”

According to the StreetParty.org.uk, you do not need to tell the
council if you hold a smaller event that does not require
permission for road closures.

If you’re planning on a larger do, it’s worth
noting that many councils have eased road closure restrictions and
removed the cost of a road closure permit.

“These
include Guildford, Bromley, Salford, and Croydon, to name a few,”
says the Telegraph. The fee has also been waived in
Liverpool.



But if you’ve run out of time to close the road, “you can always
arrange a ‘street meet’ using pavements, parking spaces, gardens or
driveways which doesn’t require permission”, adds the
Telegraph.