Colorful awnings and bright smiles crowded Blue Hill Avenue last Saturday for this summer’s Open Streets Boston in Roxbury.

Since 2022, annual Open Streets events have taken over main roads in several neighborhoods, including Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. The usual honking of traffic is replaced by street karaoke, as food trucks take the place of pickup trucks. 

Roxbury kicked off the series of events last weekend, which will span into the fall, showcasing Boston’s various neighborhoods as Open Streets returns to the city for the fourth year in a row. Local businesses, nonprofits and public service officials packed the streets with opportunities to interact with their community. 

The idea behind Open Streets Boston is to “create room for community and play” by closing main streets to vehicular traffic, according to the City of Boston website. Local artists showcase their work, small businesses drum up sales and activists speak about their causes—all one community, all together on one street.

“The idea is to reimagine streets to be centering people instead of cars,” said Karleen Porcena, Director of Outreach for Open Streets Boston. “One of the things that I love most is after every route, I get at least two people saying, ‘Oh, my God, I never knew this business was there,’ people walk by or drive by, but when the streets are open, you kind of slow down and pay attention to what’s around you.”

Roxbury set a high bar for the remaining Open Streets festivities. With the sun shining and upbeat music blasting, people from all over the Roxbury area flocked to Blue Hill Avenue. Tables sponsored by organizations ranging from the Boston Public Library and Boston Medical Center to caricature artists and face painters lined the street. A mountain of bubbles pooled into the road for little kids to play in and cool off. Designated places for photo-ops were scattered throughout the booths of handmade candles, artisan skincare and family-owned jewelry businesses.

“I absolutely love Open Streets, I think that it’s absolutely needed in the community,” said Kristine Frazier, creator of Elevated Queen Essentials. “Prior to Open Streets, we didn’t have a lot of good community events that everyone knew about, so it kind of brings the entertainment, the vendors — it brings the community to the communities.”

Residents have seen Open Streets Boston evolve since its initial launch four years ago. The events have expanded each year, now reaching five Boston neighborhoods. Mattapan is the newest addition and will host its first Open Streets this October. Next to host Open Streets after Roxbury is Hyde Park in August, followed by Dorchester, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain later this year. 

“I think they have more events each year, and they reach more communities,” said Frazier. “Each year, I noticed that they [Open Streets] go to a different area that they haven’t been in, and they kind of add it to the list of communities that we meet, so we meet all different types of people.”

Open Streets is more than a fun way to mark the beginning of summer. It is a celebration of Boston’s residents; “an event for the community, not just in the community,” said Porcena. 

As families, friends and pets gathered together in dance, song, art and more, locals relished the opportunity to be outside together and showcase their passions. 

“I think right now, with what we’re going through, this is such an important time for us to really focus on joy,” said Porcena. “It’s headline after headline; It’s just so depressing, especially in communities of color, in immigrant communities, low-income communities, people are just down and fearful — but these kind of events really highlight the need for community, for fun, for joy; you see people of all different colors and ages, it’s just so much fun.”