Since travel restrictions are more agreeable nowadays than two years ago, it’s only natural that a lot more families and friends are considering going on road trips or making up for the lost time by planning a weekend beach getaway. And while things aren’t entirely back to normal, we can at least guarantee that some semblance of normality has returned to most parts of the world, and we can finally take a short break from all the built-up stress.
However, before you double down on going elsewhere for relaxation and catching up with your loved ones, you must consider the possibility of hosting a community event instead because it’s a lot more fun than most people give it credit for. And while it may be an outlandish idea that takes a lot of hard work to set up and plan, you’ll be surprised at how beneficial a simple community even can be at bringing people together.
Brings a Community Closer Together
These past two years have been rough on community relationships. While some small neighborhoods have managed to stay relatively social with their immediate neighbors, most households chose to be more reserved and avoid risks. As a result, even with the new normal offering people more opportunities to move around and exercise their freedom to go out again, most families are still apprehensive and have grown used to the sheltered lifestyle. So, instead of letting these trends run rampant, hosting a fun community event can help break the cycle.
Getting People Out of Their Homes and Meeting Each Other
Firstly, one of the significant benefits of hosting a community event is that it gets people out of their houses and finally talking to each other again. Sure, some may have stayed connected through social media and video-sharing, but nothing beats seeing someone face to face. Plus, depending on the event, everyone gets a chance to show their unique skills or experiences, like a local cook-off to showcase your new keto taco cup recipe.
Cultivates a Sense of Belonging and Identity
Apart from the fact that you’re meeting family, friends, and neighbors you haven’t seen in quite a while, community events are perfect for cultivating a sense of belonging and associating an identity to the town. Sometimes, people feel disconnected from the places they live, and this feeling has only become worse due to the global pandemic preventing people from seeing each other. As a result, a late-night battle of the bands spotlighting local talent or even a town festival that’s been postponed for too long is a great change of pace.
Promotes Small Businesses and Boosts the Local Economy
While reinforcing social bonds and relationships are essential, another very lucrative benefit gained from hosting community events is that it promotes small businesses and boosts the local economy, helping people bounce back from hard times a lot faster. There’s no denying that even the thriftiest local entrepreneurs worked hard to crunch numbers and make ends meet, so introducing more economic activity is a welcome addition. Specifically, community events bring about fun competition alongside healthy collaboration between businesses and increased awareness as a travel destination.
Fun Competition Alongside Healthy Collaboration
One of the best parts about a community event is that it provides local craftsmen, artisans, vendors, restaurateurs, hoteliers, and even innkeepers a chance to put their best items on display and run special deals. And if the event is centered around crowning the season’s best local entrepreneur with a personalized laser-cut acrylic token, people will feel more enticed to give it everything they’ve got to offer. As a result, it can help reinvigorate cultural heritage products and stimulate job creation.
Increased Awareness as a Travel Destination
Last but not least, once word gets out that your local community is famous for hosting fun events and exciting activities all year round, it can increase awareness of the region as a potential travel destination. In doing so, you might even get investors looking around for possible commercial activity, which will also lead to many improvements in local infrastructure and overall better living standards. Sure, these goals may seem far-fetched at first, but over time and with enough hard work, even the hardest of goals is not that difficult with a bit of community participation.
Giving Back Through Participation and Volunteering
We know that hosting a community event is by no means easy, and compared to going on a simple trip with friends, the latter sounds a lot more accessible in terms of time and effort invested. However, we firmly believe that there’s no better chance than now to give back to our local communities with a bit of volunteering and planning for local events. And while it may be hard at first, the fruit of all that hard work will be plentiful and more than sustainable!
