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Boston Globe

Dancing the night away in Cambridge, in a hue of red, white, and blue

Patriotic colors were everywhere, from painted stars and hopscotch squares on sidewalks, to striped banners draped over the facade of City Hall, to a brilliant light show on a warm summer night. Advertisement The party's theme, 'Revolutionary Reunion 250,' marked the city's contribution to the statewide MA250 celebrations. But at its heart, the party that started in 1996 in honor of the city's 150th anniversary, was a deeply local celebration of modern Cambridge. 'I like when people close streets, it makes me feel like it's ours,' said resident Ryan Gibeau, who teaches at Emerson College. 'To come out and dance at a place that feels like ours is pretty awesome.' 'I love the diversity, the different kinds of dances, the variance of [music] styles,' said Tao Harris, 48, of Hyde Park, who's attended the block party nearly every year since moving to the Boston area in 2004. 'There's nothing else like it.' Behind him, Spanish music streamed from storefront speakers, and the mobile act A Trike Called Quest led seniors from the Cambridge Senior Center in flamenco dancing. Advertisement The African American flag and the Black Lives Matter flag framed the DJ booth atop the front steps of City Hall, where DJs Overhead, a jumbotron flashed the crowd's favorite songs like a stadium scoreboard, 'There's no one demographic. Everybody's here,' Harris continued. The theme, he said, resonates because the vibrant mix of people 'represents what America should be, and in the sense that Cambridge is a historical city, it also works.' One resident noted the city's pioneering role in the LGBTQ+ movement. 'Cambridge was the first city to [ And indeed, among the red, white, and blue stars and stripes painted on pavement, crosswalks were proudly striped in the rainbow colors of the gay and bisexual Pride flags. Down Temple Street, a stretch of kid-friendly activities drew hundreds of children and parents under the warm afternoon sun. Chris Madson, a teacher with the Cambridge Public Schools who was attending with his second-grader, Jude, said, 'It's a summer tradition … everyone will be here, you see everyone in the neighborhood.' 'It's nice to see so many people show up with their kids,' said Sonia D'Souza of Somerville, there with her daughter Natalie, who just under 2-years-old. 'It's great for her to see the energy that the city brings. … It's a bit chaotic, but she's having fun,' D'Souza said, laughing. Advertisement Behind her, a child kicked a beach ball that narrowly missed a parent carrying a baby in a front harness. Around them, kids clambered over an inflatable, raced between plastic slides, and jumped to pop bubbles that glittered with rainbow hues. The main event, of course, was the dancing, with abandon, in the streets. 'The cliché is true,' Jeremy Phillips, 57, of Boston, said mid-dance. 'Joy is a form of resistance.' Rita Chandler can be reached at