Street Festivals Closing Roads

The question

How to approach this advantages and disadvantages question

An advantages and disadvantages essay weighs both sides. Some questions also ask whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages: then you must pick a side.

1. Introduce the trend and say what you will cover.
2. One paragraph on the advantages, with an example.
3. One paragraph on the disadvantages, with an example.
4. If asked "do the advantages outweigh...?", give your answer in the conclusion and the introduction.

How to plan this answer

Structure

1. Introduction: paraphrase the practice of closing main streets for festivals and state your answer: the advantages outweigh the disadvantages when events are well planned.
2. Body 1: the advantages, covering community bonding, support for local traders and a boost to the area's image and visitors.
3. Body 2: the disadvantages, covering traffic disruption, access problems for disabled or elderly residents and delays for buses and emergency vehicles.
4. Body 3: a judgement that the closures are brief, announced in advance and managed with alternative routes and consultation, so the harm is limited.
5. Conclusion: restate your answer and finish with a concrete example, such as a shop trading strongly during a market day or a planned diversion for a bus route.

Idea bank

• A street market where local bakers, cheese makers and craftspeople sell to a crowd that would not normally visit the centre.
• A bus route diverted for a weekend, causing a longer journey for someone travelling to a hospital appointment.
• A residents' association that is consulted in advance and agrees on alternative routes for deliveries and disabled parking.
• Counter-argument: some shops close or lose trade during the festival, because customers are unable to reach them by car.
• Emergency vehicles that need a clear route, which means organisers must plan for access before any event begins.

Useful vocabulary

• to bring people together: Street festivals bring people together who rarely meet in daily life.
• to divert: Buses were diverted onto a longer route during the festival weekend.
• to disrupt: The closure disrupted deliveries to shops on the high street.
• footfall: Footfall in local shops often rises sharply on festival days.
• to pedestrianise: The council plans to pedestrianise the street for three days a year.
• to give advance notice: Organisers should give advance notice to residents and businesses.
• to cause gridlock: A single badly placed barrier can cause gridlock across the town centre.
• a lively atmosphere: The closed street creates a lively atmosphere that attracts families.
• to be a draw for: The market is a draw for visitors from neighbouring towns.
• to minimise disruption: Careful planning can minimise disruption to residents and buses.

Common mistakes

• Describing festival programmes or performers in detail rather than weighing the advantages and disadvantages.
• Forgetting access needs for disabled or elderly residents, which is one of the most important disadvantages.
• Writing topic sentences that do not signal the point of the paragraph, so the structure is hard to follow.
• Ending without a concrete example, even though the task asks for one in the conclusion.

Examiner tip: Use a judgement that depends on conditions, such as planning and notice, and show how those conditions reduce the disadvantages. This is more convincing than a simple yes or no.