Our fifth annual Rock the Block free community block party was such a blast!
Thanks to all 500 of our guests, partners, and vendors for making the event such a success!
Check out our Rock the Block photo album to see if we caught you on camera this year!
When: Wednesday, August 20, 2025 from 5-8 p.m.
Where: Inside and outside West Side Community Services (161 Vermont Street)
This is a rain or shine event! We will move most of the activities inside our building in the case of poor weather.
Cost: Everything is free unless otherwise noted below! (Purchases are required for food trucks.)
What: Family-friendly block party with lots to do! Click on the pink bars below to see more details.
Sports and Other Physical Fun
- 🏃 Inflatable obstacle course
- 🫧 Foam party from Buffalo Foam Parties (6-7:30 p.m.) – wear clothes/shoes that can get wet!
- 🏒 Street hockey with the Buffalo Sabres Students of the Game program
Creative Activities
- 🎶 Music by DJ Tru Journey
- 💐 Arrange-your-own mini-bouquet (made possible by our Give 716 donors!)
- 🖌️ Face painting and henna
- 🧚🏽 Fairy doors with the Rich Family Foundation
- 🗿 Air-dry clay projects with City Year Buffalo
- 🚩 DIY mini pennants with Senator Sean Ryan (with an assist from Stitch Buffalo and Oxford Pennant)
- 🐖 Decorate your own piggy bank with Good Neighbors Credit Union
- 🖍️ Design your own pinback button with the Isaías González-Soto Branch Library – Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Food, Beverages, Giveaways, and More!
- 🌯 Lloyd Taco Truck (purchase required)
- 🍦 $1 ice cream bars from The Ice Cream men (purchase required)
- 🚲 FREE kids’ bike/scooter raffle for all youth (thanks to the Buffalo Police Department and an anonymous West Side neighbor)
- 🍍 Fruit kebabs by Cornell Cooperative Extension- SNAP Ed
- 🍓 Strawberry DNA extraction activity with the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences STEM Outreach ambassadors
- 🧪 Science Below Zero with the Buffalo Museum of Science
- 🤿 Buffalo Police Department Underwater Rescue and Recovery Team (take a photo on their jet ski)
- 🚒 Try out a fire truck hose with the Buffalo Fire Department
- 🌱 Free giveaways from Grassroots Gardens WNY and Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy
- 🤫 Indoor quiet room for anyone needing a sensory break
Sponsor Rock the Block!
Is your company or family interested in sponsoring Rock the Block? Check out our sponsorship packages or call Director of Operations Mary Schaefer at 716-884-6616 x105.
ROCK THE BLOCK IS GRACIOUSLY SUPPORTED BY OUR SPONSORS!
PRODUCERS
GROUPIES
