Block party

For the Britishrock band, see Bloc Party.

A block party is a large informal public celebrationin which many members of a single neighborhoodcongregate to observe a positive event of some importance. Many times, there will be celebration in the form of playing musicand dance. Block parties gained popularity in the United Statesduring the 1970s. Block Parties were often held outdoors and power for the DJ's sound systemwas taken illegally from street lights. This was famously referenced in the song "South Bronx" by KRS-Onewith the line:

"Power from a street light made the place dark. But yo, they didn't care, they turned it out"

It is also interesting to note that many inner city block parties were actually held illegally, as they might be described as loitering. However, police turned a blind eye to them, reasoning that if everyone from the neighbourhood was gathered in one place there was less chance of crime being commited elsewhere.

In other usage, a block party has come to mean any informal public celebration. For example, a block party can be conducted via televisioneven though there is no real block in the observance. The same is true for the Internet.

The block party is closely related to the beach party. The British equivalent is the street party.

See also

• Party
• LAN party

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block+party Wikipedia article Block party.