🦊 Things to do this weekend in North London Feb 14-15

Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🚶 Wood Green to Ally Pally tunnel reopened after 9 years: Penstock Tunnel pedestrian is the tunnel under the railway connecting Wood Green to Alexandra Park has been refurbished. Council report in 2017 called it "neglected and unsafe." Now has new lighting, resurfacing, flood protection and drainage. New artwork by Emma Smith installed - concrete sculptures inspired by the New River with embedded bubbles and stones, one glowing in the dark. Residents chose the pink and orange colours. The tunnel's connected Wood Green to Alexandra Park since the 1860s.

🏠 New Tottenham centre to help people facing homelessness: Haringey Council opening Homelessness Prevention Hub at Marcus Garvey Library and Tottenham Green Leisure Centre. Place where people can get face-to-face assessments if they're homeless or at risk. Government requires councils to offer this - current service at Wood Green council building can't handle demand. Using customer service area at the library plus back office space at leisure centre. Costs £338k to set up, £250k yearly (that space was meant for gym extension). Tottenham location chosen because east of borough has highest need. Got parking too for people bringing belongings.


📚 You're invited to Kilburn Library's reopening party: Been closed since July for upgrades. Now got more study spaces, digital zone, new children's area with interactive stuff, bigger book collection. Grand reopening 11am-4pm Saturday 28 Feb at 42 Salusbury Road. Free activities all day: African storytelling, live music, printmaking, circus skills, green workshops, health checks, community stalls, refreshments. Everyone welcome.

💙 Barnet offering Council Tax relief for people with terminal illness: Starting 1 April, Barnet residents with a terminal diagnosis won't have to pay Council Tax. Part of the council's Discretionary Relief policy. One of the first London councils to do this. Marie Curie charity has been campaigning for this nationally.

💰 Camden's £2m Diversity Fund now open - businesses can apply for up to £500k: Applications open until 6 April for Camden business owners from diverse backgrounds. Loans or revenue-share investments from £20k to £500k. Three priorities: creative industries (music, fashion, arts, photography), businesses supporting local employment (apprenticeships, training, mentorship), or community-focused businesses (culturally relevant spaces, reducing isolation). Panel of 500 Camden residents and entrepreneurs decides who gets funding

🏓 Wembley hosting world table tennis for first time since 1926: World Table Tennis Team Championships coming to OVO Arena Wembley, 2-10 May. First time the UK's hosted it in 100 years. Finals week with world's best players. Lead-up events happening before May. New Table Tennis Museum opening at some point too.

🎭 Did you know Regent's Park outdoor theatre summer tickets are out? and this summer they're doing Cats, running 25 July to 12 Sept. They also got a new Sherlock Holmes play opening 2 May. Joshua James playing Sherlock, origin story about his first case. Midsummer Night's Dream 20 June-18 July. Short dance piece to Vivaldi 11-14 June. Kids show Anansi the Spider back in August. Tickets on sale now.

Margot Bakery 10th Birthday Party | 📍Margot Bakery, N2 | 14 Feb | Free
Margot Bakery turning 10 on Valentine's Day (opened 14 Feb 2016). Birthday party 1-5pm - free cake from 1pm while it lasts, live music, special bakes, art stuff to draw your Margot memories. I hear Margot will be there too 😉.

Seconds + Samples Sale | 📍Abney Hall, N16 | 14-15 Feb | Free
65+ London designer-makers selling samples, trial pieces and slightly imperfect seconds at reduced prices. Jewellery, slow fashion, knitwear you can actually afford from independent makers. One-off pieces that won't be made again. Hand-cast metals, Murano glass, ceramic, freshwater pearls. Hand-stitched clothes, screen-printed gear, knitted jumpers, hand-dyed loungewear, hats, scarves, bags.

Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty | 📍Arts Depot, N12 | 14 Feb | (£)
New Sherlock Holmes play at Arts Depot. Holmes and Watson racing to stop Moriarty's plot to bring down the British Empire in 1901 London. Don't know who to trust, how much will Holmes sacrifice to win? Blackeyed Theatre doing it, they get five-star reviews for their adaptations. World premiere so you'll be seeing it first.



London Bookshop Crawl | 📍Various locations | 13-15 Feb | (£)
11th year of London Bookshop Crawl bringing book lovers together to celebrate independent bookshops across London. Group crawls with friendly guides visiting second-hand, antiquarian and specialist shops, or explores self-guided. Some groups have a waiting list but Kentish Town & Camden group crawl still has tickets - Sunday 1-4:30pm.

Love In Full Swing | 📍Kings Place, N1 | 14 Feb | (£)
Kings Place Jazz Orchestra with vocalist Claire Martin OBE playing love-themed orchestral jazz. Music made famous by Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee, plus contemporary pieces about romance and heartbreak.

Hampstead Walk | 📍Oriel Place, NW3 | 14 Feb | (£)
Walk around Hampstead looking at beautiful houses and hearing stories about who lived there. John Constable, Daphne du Maurier, H.G. Wells, John Keats all lived here. Georgian village that used to be a countryside retreat from dirty London, now where rich and famous live. Explore the streets, hear secrets about the area. Otherwise known as the "which house would you like to live in" walk.

Isaac Julien: All That Changes You. Metamorphosis | 📍Victoria Miro, N1 | 13 Feb-21 Mar | Free
Immersive film installation across five screens in a mirrored room. Sheila Atim and Gwendoline Christie play time travellers moving through different worlds - Renaissance palaces, glass futuristic buildings, ancient forests, scenes of environmental collapse. About transformation and how we adapt to change.

Crouch End Cabaret | 📍Lovage, N8 | 14 Feb | (£)
Valentine's cabaret at Lovage in Crouch End. Local variety show with music, comedy, performances.

Charity Gala | 📍The Bull Theatre, EN5 | 14 Feb | Donation
The Bull Theatre doing a Valentine's fundraiser with performances from groups who use the building. Magic, drama, music. Meet the people, hear their stories. Special guests performing. Raffle. £10 donation.

Ever heard of the Fire Horse? No? Neither had I, but it only happens once every 60 years. The last one was 1966. In Chinese tradition, the Fire Horse represents speed, momentum, success arriving like a horse charging into battle. 

That's why Camden Market is marking it on Saturday 21st February with a giant panda installation, lion dances, Beijing Opera, and face-changing performers.

Face-changing is one of those things that sounds simple until you see it. The performer switches full face masks in a split second without you seeing how they do it. You're watching their hands, you're watching their face, and you still can't figure out where the mask went. It's a 300-year-old technique and only a handful of people know how to do it. There's also live traditional Chinese music throughout the day.

For families, there are free workshops running from 12:30pm to 6pm: fan painting, calligraphy, lantern decorating, and making a fragrant pouch. No booking needed, just turn up.

On the food side, there's Chinese teas and steamed buns in the outside areas, plus hot food in the Waterside halls.

Best part: it's all free. You can book a free spot on Eventbrite.

👉 Book Here

^{**Full transparency: This is a paid feature. I said yes because it's free, it's local, and the Fire Horse only happens once every 60 years.}

Solan at Pasero | 📍 N15 (Tottenham)

Agata's Polish, Giorgio's Italian, and Solan is what happens when they cook together. They're at Pasero until end of Feb doing things like bigos croquettes with apple mostarda, pierogi with boar ragu and pickled walnuts. Sounds weird, apparently it works.

Upcoming events you should consider booking in advance or planning ahead for. In and out of North London. Events marked with (£) require a ticket in advance.