Taking it to the street

The street parties have captured the hearts and imagination of thousands of residents and visitors, with the event hosting WA’s first suitcase market, great food options and quality local entertainment.

Community Solutions chief executive Rhys Williams came up with the idea while walking through the streets of New Orleans with friends.

‘We were wandering through the streets watching some incredible busking and talented artists painting canvas on the footpath and we began talking about how great it would be for Mandurah to have this sort of atmosphere on a Friday night,” he said.

On his return from the US, Mr Williams spoke with the City of Mandurah and local businesses, and the idea went from there.

‘There seemed to be a real appetite for the concept and we were fortunate to have the City of Mandurah and local business group All for the Mall provide some funds to make the event a reality,” he said.

The secret to success was having the right people on board.

‘It was one of those things that we jumped into fairly blind,’ Mr Williams said.

‘No one really knew if a street party in Mandurah would work, but we have a talented project team in Community Solutions staff Deidre Robb and Karen Lyons, who worked tirelessly over summer to make it all happen. These events have really given us some insight into what the Mandurah community is looking for so we are now looking at ways we can get more of these sorts of initiatives happening.”

The last event for the season will kick off at 5pm with renowned WA jazz musician Adam Hall at 7pm. Check out www.fb.com/smartstreet parties for details.