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Last Sunday, the typical car horns and brake screeches along Brighton and Harvard Avenue from Cambridge Street to Commonwealth Avenue were replaced by the sounds of music, neighbors chatting, and bike bells dinging. 

People rode skateboards and hopped on pedicabs in the middle of the street. Food trucks and local vendors lined the route as attendees strolled along roads normally filled with cars and buses.  

Open Streets 2026 came to Allston Brighton on Oct. 4. The city-sponsored event ran from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., temporarily closing streets to vehicles and opening them to pedestrians, businesses and community activities so “people can dream, play, and explore,” according to the City of Boston website.

Pilar Delgado, city program manager for Open Streets Boston, said that accessibility helps draw people to the event, where activities are free.

Shana Bryant, founder and CEO of Manifested Events and lead organizer for Open Streets Boston, also says she appreciates how Open Streets invites attendees to see their communities through a new lens.

“It is very different to walk your neighborhood than when you’re in a car, right?” Bryant said. “You just see things very differently when you’re on foot.”

Fourteen-year-old Allston resident Sophie Moura had attended Open Streets before and said this year’s event was “one of the best ones so far.” She spent part of Sunday shopping from vendors and purchasing dog treats with her mom.

For Moura, events like Open Streets provide a simple benefit to the neighborhood: They are “a good way to relax” and meet people.

For newer businesses, Open Streets can also offer particularly valuable exposure. 

Victoria Trujillo, founder of The Sailor’s Voyage, said Open Streets was only her fourth vendor event. She started her business after traveling while serving in the military. Having recently started an Instagram page for her business, Trujillo believes that Open Streets gave her another medium to showcase her products.

“I think that’s great for all these small businesses like me that don’t have a storefront or don’t sell online,” Trujillo said. “This is your way to get your name out there.”

But the event was about more than commerce. For Laura Alonso, a vendor who lives about two blocks away, a place for people to gather was just as important.

Alonso has lived in Allston for nearly four years and has run her handmade-goods business for three. One of her goals, she said, is to build fellowship through her work.

“We need to see each other, talk, have these spaces,” Alonso said. “It’s awesome that the city can help us, the small businesses, to have these spaces.”

This year’s Open Streets marks the fifth year of partnership between Manifested Events and the City of Boston. This year’s locations include Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Allston Brighton and, for the first time, Roslindale.

As Manifested Events approaches its 10th anniversary, Bryant says that the journey to run a small business is one that she has experienced personally. 

“I literally know what it is to go from something small to growing your business from a pop-up to, you know, you might be doing activations, a vendor, a pop-up, storefront,” Bryant said. “I understand the growth.”

Bryant began planning Open Street events months in advance. By Sunday, her team had turned two of Allston-Brighton’s busiest commercial streets into a gathering place for biking, skateboarding, dancing, live performances and local businesses.

Open Streets Boston city manager Delgado described Allston and Brighton as “busy, energetic neighborhoods” and said Open Streets “allows residents and visitors alike to interact with their neighborhood.”

That interaction also benefits local businesses.

“I think this is exposure for the small businesses, the brick-and-mortars and the vendors,” Bryant said. “It really is just a win-win for everybody that’s involved.”

For a few hours, visitors and businesses alike had the opportunity to connect on the streets of Allston-Brighton. The sunny Sunday weather brought neighbors outside to walk and experience familiar streets in a unique way.

“The community wants to be outside,” Bryant said. “Boston likes to be outside.”

This story is part of a partnership between Allstonia and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.