RECLAIMED CONSTRUCTION ZONE TO MAKE WAY FOR STREET PICNIC

This Sunday, July 13, a road construction site on Bathurst Street between Bloor and Dupont will be filled with merry picnickers from all over the city.

The fifth annual Streets are for Picnics will occupy the three lanes of Bathurst currently closed for road work, leaving one remaining, north-bound lane open to the more commonplace car traffic. The event has been timed to coincide with the closing of an eco-themed exhibition of hand-made, decorated canvas bags at Keep Six Contemporary gallery (938 Bathurst).

Streets are for People, the gang hosting the picnic, plans to take back the strip of Bathurst with giant games, bike races, a life-sized redesign Bathurst charette, films (including the latest from undercover Toronto revolutionaries the Urban Repair Squad) and a live performance by the New Kings.

"Major thoroughfares become car free when construction opens them up to pedestrian and cycle traffic," says Shamez Amlani of Streets are for People. "This liberates public space that would normally serve the mundane, and instead we have a community playground with live music, dance, film, games – anything that strikes the fancy. It is particularly inspiring when the rest of the city is still grinding on mere inches away."

The group's previous construction zone reclamations include a picnic on Dundas West at Ossington, an "out-of-gas station" picnic on a toxic lot at College and Rusholme, a New Kings concert on Bathurst at Queen, and in 2004 they pushed an upright piano onto the tracks on College and Augusta for a jazz concert by the Dimestore Orchestra, followed by a mid-road screening of the Triplets of Belleville.

Streets are for People encourages everyone to come to Sunday's event with blankets, picnic baskets, games, bikes, their loved ones – anything to add to the festive air that is created when a typically car-clogged street is transformed into a comfortable place where a party can happen.

Streets are for Picnics will start at 2pm and continue into the night.

For more information:

Streets are for People Construction Zone Reclamation: http://streetsareforpeople.org/actions/construction.html
Keep Six Contemporary: http://keep6c.com/main/
New Kings: http://cdbaby.com/cd/newkings

About Streets Are for People!

Since 2002, Streets Are for People has been engaging citizens and governments through creative and playful street actions in order to demonstrate the absurdity of our auto-addicted culture. Its goal is to foster open dialogue about alternate visions for our city streets, and to create and inspire collaborative projects which continue to push the agenda of a livable city and a sustainable future. The group is also behind the popular Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, in which streets are closed to cars on the last Sunday of each month during the summer. streetsareforpeople.org


For more information contact:

Aurora Ratcliffe

aurora.ratcliffe@gmail.com
416-834-2572

• Streets are for People!