We have a long history of celebrating with our neighbours in the UK and the street party tradition is something that’s quite unique to the UK historically, particularly in England and Wales. Street parties have brought people together on various occasions.
We can date street parties as far back as Halloween in 1000BC, the Old Celtic New Year and, in more recent history, royal celebrations like Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, the Coronations of Kings George V & VI and Queen Elizabeth and the various royal weddings of recent years. We were delighted to join this tradition with The Big Jubilee Lunch in 2012, becoming the official ‘street party partners’ for marking the Queens Diamond Jubilee.
End of war street celebrations were also common across the country. The end of WW1 saw a trend of hosting ‘Peace Teas’ on streets, predominately for children who had suffered at home. VE and VJ days also saw whole communities take to the streets, with bunting flags flying.
It’s a tradition that’s more well-established in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland having their own ways to celebrate, with Ceilidhs and get-togethers around sport, music and culture. Hogmanay is also a big occasion in Scotland and NI. Edinburgh holds a huge annual New Year’s Eve street party and ‘first footing’ – visiting a neighbour after midnight on old year’s night with gifts of food and wishes of good fortune – has been a way to keep community connections.
The Big Lunch has, however, been well accepted as an idea in Scotland and NI where we’ve seen participation grow year on year in all types of communities.
What The Big Lunch has aimed to do is show that we don’t need an occasion to get together – sometimes it’s nice to spend time with those we live beside just because, and to do so more regularly too! We can now say that The Big Lunch is well-established as part of the UK’s historic street party tradition, being the UK’s biggest street party movement.
Join in with The Big Lunch and join history in the making too!
For more street party history check out Historypin
