Lights in the Heights

This is a neighbourhood throwing a party, not a production. The Woodland Heights Civic Association has run it for close to four decades, the streets close to cars for one evening, and residents decorate their porches and put bands on them.

The etiquette matters more here than the logistics. You are walking through people's front gardens on a residential street — stay on the pavement and the road, do not go up to houses that have not set themselves up for visitors, and take your rubbish with you. Regulars are generous about this; the neighbourhood is the venue.

Park well outside the closure and walk in. Trying to get close is how you spend the evening in a car, and the surrounding Heights streets are narrow and residential. The Heights hike-and-bike trail is a good approach on foot or by bike.

It is one evening only: Saturday 12 December this year, 6 to 9pm. Dress warm and bring a torch for the unlit stretches.