Hey Neighbour,
I must admit, feels good to be back in your inbox.🙂
I spent last week with family and doing some planning for 2026. What did you get up to? Hit reply if you feel like sharing.
Quick update: we've just passed 2,500 subscribers. Special thanks to Michael MacLeod, who runs the London Minute, for the shoutout. I read it all the time - worth checking out if you want to know what's happening across the city.
In the meantime...
Plan Your Weekend:
Round Up
Bits and bobs worth knowing.
💷 Barnet Council Tax going up [X%] as £88m budget gap looms: Council proposing tax rise for April 2026 to help close massive budget shortfall. Rising costs for housing homeless families and social care driving the gap. Council already borrowed £55.7m this year and needs more government support. Have your say on what services to prioritise by 29 Jan.
🏞️ Hampstead Heath adding saunas, padel courts and 11 wildlife ponds:
City of London Corporation's five-year plan includes expanding saunas beyond Parliament Hill Lido by 2028, with padel and pickleball courts following by 2031. Eleven new ponds being created for flood control and wildlife habitat, not swimming. Mixed bathing pond opening year-round. Hill Garden Pergola getting restored after being listed "at risk." Sheep returning to graze in 2026 for conservation. Over 70 improvements total.
🍽️ Enfield FEASTS supper club launching at Dugdale Arts Centre: Monthly series Feb-May 2026 featuring guest chefs cooking heritage dishes with local ingredients from Forty Hall Farm. Three confirmed dates: Urvashi Roe (Indian) 7 Feb, Ren Behan (Polish) 7 Mar, Rosamund Grant (African/Caribbean) 2 May. Communal dining celebrating Enfield's food culture. Book at Dugdale Arts Centre.
🍺 New pub named after Mary Wollstonecraft opening in Stoke Newington: Taking over Ryan's Bar site on Church Street after 32-year run ended December. Named after feminist writer who lived in Newington Green in 1780s and founded girls' school. Will have garden and dining. Opening early 2026 at 181 Church Street. Follow @thewollstonecraft for updates.
🎓 Love Haringey's history? Free tour guide training starting Feb - apply by 22 Jan: Golden Key Academy training 10 people to lead heritage and architecture tours in Haringey. No experience needed - just passion for local stories. Course mostly online (7 Feb-Sept), worth £800, with travel costs covered. You'll create and lead your own tour at Open House Festival in Sept 2026. Particularly welcoming applications from Global Majority, LGBTQIA+, disabled and working-class people. Application needs short online form + 90-second video.
My North London Top Events
Apple Yowling | 📍Ferry Boat Inn, N17 | 17 Jan | Free
Wassail the oldest apple orchard in Waltham Forest. Traditional ceremony where you bang pots and pans to make noise and scare off evil spirits, sing at the trees to wake them for spring and ensure a good harvest. Then warm up inside the 17th-century Ferry Boat Inn with spiced cider and traditional entertainment. Bring pots, pans and warm clothes. Free, 5:30-10:30pm.
Railway Fields Open Day | 📍Railway Fields, N4 | 17 Jan | Free
Railway Fields nature reserve opens its gates for a few hours. Wander the green space or join the drawing group 10am-1pm if you fancy sketching outdoors. Beginners welcome, materials provided. Free, volunteer-run. Last entry 1:45pm.
Free Walking Tour of Camden Town | 📍Wendy's, NW1 | 17 Jan | Pay what you think it's worth
Fancy a free walking tour of Camden? Two hours covering the music history (Amy Winehouse, The Roundhouse, punk and Britpop), street art, markets, and stories about George Orwell and the Peaky Blinders who used to roam these streets. Ends at Primrose Hill for views over London if the weather's good. Guide holds a red umbrella, and meets outside Wendy's opposite Camden Town station. Pay what you think it's worth at the end.
Swipe Vintage Kilo Sale | 📍Dugdale Arts Centre, EN2 | 18 Jan | (£)
Swipe Vintage bringing their kilo sale to Enfield. Fill a bag with vintage clothing from the 60s to 00s, pay £20 per kilo at the end. Adidas, Nike, North Face, Levis, Ralph Lauren, Converse. Shoes £5 a pair, leather jackets capped at £20. All hand-graded before the sale. Mens, womens and kids clothing. £2 entry gets you all day, leave and come back as many times as you want.
An Evening with Sir Derek Jacobi | 📍Chickenshed Theatre, N14 | 18 Jan | (£)
Sir Derek Jacobi in conversation with Richard Clifford at Chickenshed Theatre. Stories from six decades in theatre, film and TV - I, Claudius, Gladiator, The Crown, Shakespeare at the National Theatre. Richard Clifford is an actor and director who's been at the Folger Shakespeare Library for 20 years. They've been partners since the 70s. Fundraiser for Chickenshed where they're both ambassadors.
The Playground One Year Anniversary | 📍Substation Studio, N4 | 18 Jan | (£)
Alyssa's celebrating one year of The Playground, a space for reconnecting with creative play and childlike imagination. This time there's a giant paper roll spread across the floor with paints and materials everywhere. Two hours to make whatever you want with no rules or outcomes. For anyone missing that feeling of creating just because. Whether you paint regularly or haven't since school, doesn't matter. 4-6pm making, drinks 6-8pm after. Wear clothes you don't mind getting paint on.
Source: @theplay.ground
Wilderness Talks: London's Brutalist Architecture | 📍Wilderness Kitchen, EC1M | 18 Jan | (£)
Love or hate brutalist buildings? Join Eleanor Jackson on why London's controversial concrete architecture (Trellick Tower, Barbican, Southbank Centre) still divides opinion 50+ years later and why it's having a moment now. See familiar buildings in a new way. 90 minutes.
The Equanimity Festival | 📍King's Cross, N1C | 6 Jan-31 Mar | Free & (£)
King's Cross doing three months of wellbeing activities to ease into 2026. Slomo's back with wood-fired saunas, cold plunge pools and ice bath in Lewis Cubitt Square. Book 50-minute fire and ice sessions or 2.5-hour Sunday retreats with yoga, sound healing and herbal teas. Workshops too: make terrariums at Botanical Boys, arrange flowers at Roseur, nature photography exhibition along Lower Stable Street you can walk yourself. Some activities are free, workshops and spa sessions you book and pay for. Runs til end of March.
Craft Your 2026 Journal | 📍3 Locks Brewing Company | 18 Jan | (£)
Start the year by making your own journal at 3 Locks Brewing Company. Learn nature-themed stamping and stitching to personalise a notebook for your 2026 goals, thoughts or sketches. Most people come solo, All tools provided.
🎟️ Heads up
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.
Barnet Community Orchard Pruning Workshop | 📍Mill Hill, NW7 | 28 Jan | Free
Learn to prune fruit trees at Mill Hill Community Orchard. Hands-on workshop with experienced orchard growers teaching essential pruning techniques. Practice on the trees, meet other local orchard groups. Beginners welcome or come to refresh your skills. Bring warm clothes, sturdy shoes, pack lunch and water. Pruning tools if you have them, extras available. Tea and refreshments provided. Meet at St Joseph's flats entrance on Lawrence Street, walk to the orchard together. Site not accessible. Contact [email protected] with questions.
The Rosemary Branch: Local Stories | 📍The Rosemary Branch, N1 | 21 Jan | Free
Got a story about the local area or your life in the community? The Rosemary Branch opens its stage for anyone to get on stage and share a story about the area, the building, or their life in the community. Or just come and listen to others. Hosted by multi-award winning storyteller Casey Jay Andrews. 90 minutes, supportive atmosphere. Free but book ahead. 16+.
Ctrl - Alt - Create: Elder Emo Craft Night | 📍Matcha Mochi Cafe, NW1 | 22 Jan | (£)
New year, same eyeliner, same feelings. Elder Emo Craft Night is back for grown-ups who never quite left the 2000s behind. Theme is "New Year, Same Me" because who says you have to reinvent yourself every January? Make a vision board using old Kerrang magazines, listen to My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Taking Back Sunday, chat with fellow scene kids. All materials provided, cozy and judgment-free. Home by 10pm. Come solo or bring your old gig buddy. Limited spots, last one sold out.
London Art Fair | 📍Business Design Centre, N1 | 21-25 Jan (preview 20 Jan) | (£)
London's big art fair returns to the Business Design Centre. 120+ galleries from the UK and internationally selling modern and contemporary art - everything from affordable prints to major works. Browse and buy paintings, sculptures, photography, editions. Work ranges from established names (Warhol, Hockney, Tracey Emin) to emerging artists. National Trust exhibiting 20th-century modern art from their collection. Talks and tours throughout. Preview 20 January, public days 21-25 January.
🙌 NORTH LONDON GIG GUIDE
Well just a few decent ones, here's some shows coming up to keep your eye on.
Gorillaz | Sat 20th June | 📍Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, N17
Bad Bunny | Sat 27th & Sun 28th June | 📍Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, N17
BTS | Mon 6th & Tues 7th July | 📍Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, N17 (Pre-sale tickets go live 22nd January).
The Maccabees | Thurs 9th July | 📍Alexandra Palace, N22 7AY
Bruno Mars | 18th, 19th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, & 28th July | 📍 Wembley Stadium, HA9
Four Tet | Sat 8th August | 📍 Finsbury Park, N4
Is it worth including North London gigs in the newsletter? Let me know
🤤 SOME FOOD THINGS COMING UP
Decimo x Masala y Maíz | 📍 10 Argyle St, WC1H
Masala y Maíz, is popping up at Decimo for two days only. It's a collab menu with dishes like suadero samosas, pattice gordita with pibil lamb, vanilla ghee langoustine, and kuku poussin. If you know, you know. Fri 16th Jan (dinner from 5pm) & Sat 17th Jan (brunch 12-2.30pm, dinner from 5pm).
Toothsome Bake Sale | 📍 Godet, 38 Essex Road, N1
Food mag Toothsome is doing a charity bake sale with Denai Moore, Diarmuid Goodwin, Ed Tejada, Maison Kim, FatBoyZine behind the table. Coffee from Assembly, raffle prizes, money goes to The Felix Project, Hospitality Action and Young Minds. Sun 18th Jan. Free entry, buy vouchers for bakes on the day or in advance.
Curry Up 2.0 at HIDEN | 📍53 Stroud Green Rd, N4
HIDEN are teaming up with sommelier Eric Li from Rumble Vines for a curry and wine afternoon. Four courses for £35, wines by the glass. The summer one sold out, so don't sleep on this. Sun 25th Jan, 1-3pm or 3-5pm.
Tasca at Giacco's | 📍 176 Blackstock Road, N5
Iberian pop-up Tasca is at Giacco's until end of January. Anchovy and pepper butter toasts, rojão sandwich, Cornish mussel and chorizo rice, that kind of thing. Wines are all from female-founded or female-made wineries. Walk-ins welcome. Until Sat 31st Jan.
Big Plates at The Pocket | 📍 25 Canonbury Ln, N1
Big Plates is taking over The Pocket every Saturday in March. It's bistro stuff, big portions - mince on focaccia with brûléed egg yolk, butter chicken pie, pork schnitzel, chocolate and stout steamed pudding. Sat 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th March.
What’s On This Weekend: 17-18 January 2026
Your guide to what’s happening in North London this week. Events marked with (£) require a ticket in advance.
🖼️ Hawai'i: A Kingdom Crossing Oceans | 📍British Museum, WC1B | 15 Jan-25 May | (£)
Hawaiian history and art exhibition at the British Museum. Feathered cloaks worn by Hawaiian chiefs, shark-toothed weapons, carved deities, contemporary Native Hawaiian art. Made with Hawaiian artists, scholars and knowledge-keepers. It marks 200 years since King Liholiho and Queen Kamāmalu travelled to Britain in 1824 and died here after contracting illness at the Royal Military Asylum in Chelsea. The exhibition explores the complex relationship between Hawai'i and Britain since then.
🎨 Neon Naked Life Drawing | 📍Old Queen's Head, N1 | 17 Jan | (£)
Life drawing with models painted in neon under UV lights. You get reactive art materials to draw the glowing poses in colour. Beginners welcome, no experience needed.
🎉 Pongal Celebration | 📍Calthorpe Community Garden, WC1X | 18 Jan | Free
Tamil harvest festival celebration at Calthorpe Community Garden. Pongal ceremony where milk is boiled for a bountiful harvest, sweetened rice dish served to everyone. Giving thanks to the gardeners and volunteers. Communal Kolam (geometric rice pattern), henna for children, kids art workshop, film screening and discussion. Ceremony 1:15pm, pongal served 1:45pm, film and discussion 2:30pm.
👩🎨Corset Making Workshop | 📍FC Designer Workspace, N7 | 17 Jan | (£)
Make your own corset in a day with fashion designer John Herrera. You'll learn to take body measurements, get a basic pattern that fits you, then adjust and personalise it. If there's time, you'll cut fabric to test your pattern. Beginner-friendly, no sewing experience needed. One day, 10am-4pm with lunch break. You leave with a custom corset pattern you can use again. John Herrera's shown at London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. 16+ only.
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