🔒Local collaboration made Hartford’s ‘Party on Pratt’ a success

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The three-day Party on Pratt Street celebration that took place during the NCAA tournament's Hartford stop in late March is proof that when local organizations come together, we can showcase the city as a vibrant urban core, key to our region's economic success.

We believe this creates sustainable momentum for our Capital City.

No one organization can singlehandedly put together an event of that magnitude and create that much impact on a city. It all started with a simple conversation that sparked a collaboration with local businesses and organizations to serve our community.

The Hartford Chamber of Commerce connected with the right partners that are doing tremendous work in our city. Julio A. Concepción, executive director of the Hartford Chamber, and Chip McCabe, director of marketing at the Hartford Business Improvement District, gathered local breweries City Steam Brewery, Hanging Hills Brewing Company, Hog River Brewing Company, Thomas Hooker Brewery at Colt and local distillery Hartford Flavor Company and met with the Greater Hartford Arts Council to discuss ways of tapping into the energy around the men's Division I basketball tournament in Hartford.

The group's idea to turn Pratt Street into a pedestrian-friendly festival highlighting Hartford's eclectic breweries, local distillery, and small businesses was a huge success. The idea evolved quickly, and so did the energy. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin helped everything progress on the city side, including coordinating the Hartford Police Department and Hartford Parking Authority.

Local organizations were also quick to step up and help coordinate the event. Northland Investment Corp. donated the space for the pop-up brew pub, where a line of local and out-of-state visitors formed to enjoy local libations. Thomas Hooker Brewery covered the insurance costs for the pop-up pub. Comcast contributed TVs for people to watch the games while they were outside partaking in the festivities and patronizing local businesses.

Hartford hadn't had this kind of platform in 21 years since the tournament last came to the city. A lot has changed in those two decades. It was important to highlight the city's assets and ability to welcome visitors — and show how much fun it can be when we all work together to create this kind of Hartford experience.

More than 25,000 people were expected in the city for the tournament, spending nearly $8 million at our hotels, restaurants, bars and other establishments. This was a big-time event for Hartford and proved the city is energized and ready to compete economically on a global level.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We showed what can happen when we collaborate: Our city comes to life. We'll continue with the city's Pratt Street patio program, which takes place at lunchtime during the summer and all day on Fridays with live music.

Hartford isn't going to host a basketball tournament every year, but plenty of events happen throughout the year in the city that, with true collaboration, can make a significant economic impact. We also want to see these kinds of crowds when there is no event taking place — Hartford is the attraction.

If we work together, we can make the city a vibrant place where people want to live, work and play. We've already shown that with more collaboration, we will continue to make Hartford a destination for people all over the world.

David Griggs is the president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance.