An event has been set up to help residents get to know their neighbours.

The city’s first “zocalo”, which comes from the Mexican word for plinth and refers to a town square, was first held in 2006 by anti-television campaigner David Burke.

In its first year it attracted artist Grayson Perry, who filmed the event for a documentary.

For this year’s event, up to 3,000 households in the Hanover area of Brighton have been asked to get involved in various street parties on Sunday, August 31.

Fellow Hanover resident David Bramwell decided he would get involved after being inspired by his own journey exploring unusual communities in Europe and South America – including anarchist and free-love communities and a society that has a cathedral under the Alps.

The journey started because of a breakdown in a relationship which he used for a book, The Number Nine Bus To Utopia.

Now Mr Bramwell wants to grow the sense of community in Brighton and Hove and slowly spread it across the entire city.

Zocalo events have also been held in Seven Dials, Whitehawk and Preston Circus as well as meets further afield in parts of Worthing and Lewes.

Mr Bramwell, who also wrote the Cheeky Guide To Brighton and is a part-time music teacher, said he is not in control of the event and does not want to be.

The event attempts to “evoke the spirit of the piazza”, and if other streets want to hold a zocalo on another day then that is all part of the event.

Mr Bramwell said: “Nobody talks to their neighbours any more, most of us live in these towns and cities and we feel isolated.

“I was living on my street for 11 years and yet I only knew my neighbours to say hello to.

“This way it is as easy as possible, people just do it for themselves, bring out some food, bring out some music.

“It is a way of getting communities bonding and to get people just talking to each other.”

For more information and details on how to get involved, visit www.brightonzocalo.com.