Rice & Larpenteur Alliance: Generating Momentum Through Annual Events
Client: Rice & Larpenteur Alliance
Date Range: 2019-2022
Summary: The Musicant Group was retained by the Rice & Larpenteur Alliance to provide event and activation planning which would more tightly weave together the people, communities and commercial activities of the Rice & Larpenteur area; creating a center, a gateway, a place where people want to be. We launched the Summer Block Party for three consecutive summers, as well as the Winter Warmup series and provided support to businesses during the holiday season.
Project Goals & Strategy
Our goal was to create a one-day festival (Summer Block Party) which addressed community safety and built civic pride. Rice & Larpenteur wanted to draw current community members as well as new visitors to the area, and strengthen the newly launched brand for the area.
Our strategy involved engaging with members of the community and businesses in the delivery of the event, to ensure we were serving their needs, and to create investment.
What we did
The Musicant Group launched and sustained the Summer Block Party event for five consecutive summers starting in 2019. In addition, we:
Provided public space advising
Planned a variety of pop-up activations to create regular opportunities for positive experiences in the space
Created the Winter Warmup activation series
Created a Shopping Guide to highlight local businesses, particularly BIPOC-owned businesses
Outcomes & Benefits
The Summer Block Party brought in considerable growth each year in numbers of volunteers, sponsors, and partners. The Block Party leveraged the excitement around summer in order to engage neighbors, and feature local businesses.
The event engaged three different neighborhoods, bringing together over 20 community partners, and 40 volunteers. At the end of our services, we facilitated a smooth and successful transfer of our programming into the hands of our client, allowing them to carry on the programming themselves.
Testimonals
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“I had such a good time getting to know community members and chatting with people at the event.”
- Community Member
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“Thank you for getting the three cities together into one neighborhood. It is so important for our common good, building peace, creating positive history and new good memories. THANK YOU!!”
- Community Member