THERE was an element of nostalgia this weekend as communities around the city came together to party in the streets.

Oxford Streets for People is an annual event aimed at getting neighbours to turn their streets into social spaces, and communities around Oxfordshire joined in with gusto yesterday.

Multi-coloured bunting and wartime songs filled the air in Windsor Street, Headington, while children took part in old fashioned street games.

And in East Oxford, people were called out of their houses in Divinity Road and invited to come and play by a ‘pied piper’-style marching band, ahead of a viewing of the Tom and Jerry cartoons and classic ’80s blockbuster Ghostbusters.

Other streets which were closed off to traffic as residents partied into the night were Ash Grove, Binswood Avenue and St Leonard’s Road in Headington, St Mary’s Road, in East Oxford, and Harbord Road in Cutteslowe.

Andy Roscoe, 52, who organised the Divinity Road street party, and whose outside house wall provided the backdrop for the film, said if there was any theme to their evening it would have been ‘play time’.

“It was a fantastic evening,” he said. “There were around 200 people sitting on chairs, floor cushions, and bits of carpet.

“People seemed to love the idea that for one night only the streets belonged completely to them.”

Emma Keys, of Wilberforce Street, in Headington, took children Louis, four, and Joel, nine, along to the party outside the Butchers Arms pub in Windsor Street, Headington.

She said: “There’s two things about it. For one it’s about getting to know your neighbours and two it’s about getting outside with the children.

“It’s a fantastic evening for it too.”

Flora Carnwath, who also went along to the party with-10 month-old son Oscar, added: “It’s nice to be able to meet the neighbours and put some names to faces.”

Meanwhile, organisers of the annual Charlbury Street fair, which raises money for the upkeep of the Corner House and memorial hall, said the event was a big success.

Chairman of the organising committee Barry Cooper said: “It went fantastically well.

“We haven’t counted up all the money yet but it looks like it could be a record breaking year for us.”

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk