Hundreds turn out for Bishy Road Street Party (From York Press)

Hundreds turn out for Bishy Road Street Party

2:53pm Thursday 5th July 2012 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

HUNDREDS of people gathered in York for a celebration of local shopping.

Part of Bishopthorpe Road was closed to traffic for three hours on Wednesday night, for the Bishy Road Street Party, which saw local businesses stay open late and live music and entertainment laid on.

The summer event was first held two years ago, but last night’s party was the first organised and staged by the Bishopthorpe Road Traders Association, which was formed earlier this year as part of the national Independents Day to showcase the importance and variety of independent community shops.

Andy Shrimpton, who runs Cycle Heaven Ltd and is a member of the traders’ group, said: “The first year was an amazing success and we really didn’t expect such a fantastic response.

“The whole place was absolutely rammed in 2010 and that was without the amount of effort which has been put into this year’s street party, so we really wanted to pull out all the stops this time. We expanded the space where it was being held to include the Bishopthorpe Road shoppers’ car park and put on more stalls.

“The aim is mainly just to allow everybody to have a lot of fun but it’s also designed to promote local businesses and the role community shops play in the city, rather than just big corporate retailers. It’s about fighting back in tough economic times and showing that places like Bishopthorpe Road have a lot to offer.

“We have so many different shops and we have a supermarket, so why would you need to go anywhere else?”

As well as stalls set up by local businesses and community organisations, a barbecue and raffle with a £500 first prize were arranged, with the car park being transformed into a children’s play area. The event meant the section of Bishopthorpe Road between Nunnery Lane and Scarcroft Road was closed between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.