Problem
Just as an individual person dreams fantastic happenings to release the inner forces which cannot be encompassed by ordinary events, so, too, a city needs its dreams.
Solution
Set aside some part of town as a carnival—mad sideshows, tournaments, acts, displays, competitions, dancing, music, street theater, clowns, freak events, which allow people to reveal their madness; weave a wide pedestrian street through this area; run booths along the street, narrow alleys; at one end an outdoor theater; perhaps connect the theater stage directly to the carnival street, so the two spill into and feed one another.
Related Patterns
… once in a while, in a subculture which is particularly open to it, a promenade may break into a wilder rhythm - Promenade (31), Night Life (33) - and perhaps every promenade may have a touch of this.
Dancing in the street, food stands, an outdoor room or two, a square where the theater is, and tents and canvas will all help to make it even livelier - Small Public Squares (61), Dancing in the Street (63), Public Outdoor Room (69), Food Stands (93), Pedestrian Street (100), Canvas Roofs (244) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 298.