Mattapan will be next to host an Open Streets festival this summer.
Women danced at the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain Sunday. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
Jamaica Plain was full of color, music, and smiles on Sunday during the inaugural Open Streets festival, which blocked off streets to host a smorgasbord of vendors and activities for the neighborhood to enjoy.
Kids could be seen playing games and climbing firetrucks in the street while food trucks provided an array of dining options.
There were also plenty of cyclists and roller-bladers enjoying the lack of cars while music blared from speakers, The Boston Globereported.
Marta Robinson (L) walked towards a #JP sign with her family to take a photo with them during the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)People filled Centre Street during the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Shay Diggs (C) played Jenga with her little brother, Reggie Remy, 10 (Bottom L) and Ishwan Santana, 9 (R) at the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Mattie Deed, 71, danced as she helped to work a booth on Centre Street at the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
The Open Streets festivals are an initiative by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to help bring business and celebration to Boston communities, while daring residents to envision roads without cars.
On Sunday, Centre Street in Jamaica Plain was closed from Jackson Square to the intersection with South Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mattapan will host the next Open Streets festival on Aug. 6, when Blue Hill Avenue will be closed from the intersection with Dudley Street to the intersection with Warren Avenue.
Finally, two miles of Dorchester Avenue, from the intersection with Freeport Street to Gallivan Boulevard, will be closed for the final festival this year on Sept. 24.
Esteban Pena, 4, got an assist from his grandfather, Willie Barroso, of Jamaica Plain, as he made giant bubbles at the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)A little girl made her way down Centre Street in a toy toddler car at the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Francisco Johnson, 8, jumped into the air while playing a game set up in the middle of Centre Street at Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)People walked down Centre Street during the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
“We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to experience our streets as spaces for people and places where families can have fun and be safe,” Wu told reporters Sunday.
“We walk up and down the street all the time, but we’re always fighting with cars to do it,” 27-year-old Jamaica Plain resident Khalilah Jones told the Globe Sunday.
“So it’s nice to see people out and about, especially after the pandemic, and see the streets come alive.”
Mattie Deed, 71, (L) gave out a fist bump to some passersby as she helped to work a booth on Centre Street at the Open Streets Boston festival in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)A girl who did not wish to give her name jumped rope at the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Jase Hall, 9, (C) played spike ball with friends during the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Ant Thomas performed at the Open Streets Boston festival on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on Sunday. – (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
