Hudson Block Party is Sunday

After a wildly successful launch last year, the Hudson Block Party is back and bigger than before.

Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., the , located at 1114 Crescent Heights Boulevard (at Santa Monica Boulevard) will host a huge outdoor party on the road in front of the restaurant and in the Matthew Shepard Triangle directly across the street. The area will be closed to traffic.

“Last year was so successful, we actually had to turn people away,” owner Beau Laughlin told Patch. “So we’re bringing it back. It’s a great party for our friends, the patrons and the community.”

The party will also expand this year to include the nearby Bank of America parking lot where approximately 30 local vendors and community organizations will have booths. A stage will be set up there with a dozen bands scheduled to perform including White Rabbits, LP and Haim. 

“We’ve got three times the space this year,” said Laughlin who explained that the Hudson already uses the Bank of America lot at night for valet parking, so it was fairly simple to get the lot for the block party.

Last year’s party was held in August, but they decided to movie this year’s to May. That change was for cooler weather and also to help promote the Hudson’s new brunch menu which starts on Monday.

“We’ve been doing a weekend brunch since we opened [in October 2009], but now we’re going to do it during the week too,” said Laughlin.

The Hudson and its sister restaurant The Churchill will be offering samples of their menus throughout the party.

Admission to the block party is $10 prior to 2 p.m.; $15 after 2 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the .