Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🏆 Crouch End named one of Sunday Times' best places to live in London: made the 2026 list alongside Richmond (top London spot). Judges rated community spirit, high street, schools, green space. Sunday Times says it's got "all the charm of a quintessential English market town - just happens to be in Zone 3." Mentions vibrant shops and restaurants, green space, good schools, period homes. No Tube station but "independence is part of the package."

🎸 Youth Culture Museum opening in Camden 15 May: this is their first permanent space. The museum has an archive of 150,000 photos from post-war London to 80s rave culture. Started 1997, been doing pop-ups (Barbican, Shaftesbury Avenue, Tokyo). It's free but booking is encouraged.

🎵 Outdoor concerts by Jack's Lake back this summer: concerts returning to woodland glade at Monken Hadley Common, May to August. Classical music by the lake. It's been running for six years.This is where Bar Etna's taking over on Newington Green.

Lambing Weekend | 📍Forty Hall Farm, EN2 | 28-29 Mar | (£)
Forty Hall Farm doing lambing weekend. You can meet the new baby lambs, see birds of prey from First Class Falconry, watch Morris dancers at 12:30pm and 1:30pm. Vintage fairground with bouncy castle and swing boats for kids. Meet the farm beekeeper and try the honey. Food from the farm - pulled pork and beef burgers using their own produce. Also Punjabi food, Malaysian bao buns, Neapolitan pizza. New River Brewery beer and Forty Hall Vineyard wine made on site.

London Canal Museum Community Open Day | 📍London Canal Museum, N1 | 28 Mar | Free
The London Canal Museum in King's Cross normally charges £7.50 to get in but this Saturday they're opening their doors for free. The museum is housed in a Victorian icehouse and tells the story of London's canals, the people who lived and worked on them, and the ice trade that the building was originally built for. Open 10am to 4.30pm

Silent Read & Stretch | 📍Hotpod Yoga Crouch End, N4 | 28 Mar | (£)
If your idea of a perfect Saturday involves a book and doing absolutely nothing demanding, this one's for you. Wholesome London Club have teamed up with Hotpod Yoga in Crouch End for an afternoon of silent reading followed by a beginner-friendly yoga flow inside their inflatable studio.

Car Boot Sale at Clitterhouse Farm | 📍Clitterhouse Farm, NW2 | 29 Mar | Free
Clitterhouse Farm in Brent Cross are doing their first ever car boot sale this Sunday. Clothes, books, toys, household bits and whatever else people have cleared out. The farm café is open and pitch fees go towards repairs to the Hayloft roof. Runs 11am to 3pm, just turn up.

Handmade in Highgate Spring Fair | 📍HLSI, N6 | 27-29 Mar | Free
Spring fair at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution with designer-makers showing handmade work. Support independent makers working across the UK, and who knows you may find unique pieces you won't find on the highstreet.

English National Ballet: Body & Soul | 📍Sadler's Wells, EC1R | Until 28 Mar | (£)
Last chance to see the English National Ballet doing two new ballets about how we move through the world. Crystal Pite's Body and Soul starts with two dancers, builds to mesmerising group movements about conflict. She's world-renowned and this is the UK premiere of work she made for Paris Opera Ballet.



Springtime at the Farm | 📍Lewis of London Ice Cream Farm, EN5 | 28 Mar – 12 Apr | (£)
Lewis of London's ice cream farm in Barnet does an Easter event every year and it's one for little ones. Running daily through the school holidays, kids can hold chicks, pet lambs, go on an egg hunt, race ducks and dig around in the sandpit. It's all under cover so the weather doesn't matter. Ice cream, waffles and lunch on site too.

The Coming of Age | 📍Wellcome Collection, NW1 | 26 Mar- 29 Nov | Free
Wellcome Collection are opening a new exhibition this week exploring how we age and what that means across different cultures and societies. Over 120 artworks and objects spanning historical artefacts and contemporary work from artists including Paula Rego, Anna Maria Maiolino and Rory Pilgrim. Free to visit, runs until November.

Duck Pond Artisan Market | 📍Lauderdale House, N6 | 29 Mar | Free
Duck Pond Market are back in the grounds of Lauderdale House in Highgate this Sunday. Art, jewellery, pottery and artisan food from local makers. Free to get in, free parking, dogs on leads welcome. The Lauderdale House café is open if you want lunch while you browse. Runs 11am to 5pm.

Football Writing Festival: Arsenal Special | 📍British Library, NW1 | 28 Mar | (£)
The British Library is dedicating a full day to Arsenal, with journalists, authors and famous fans in conversation from 11.30am to 8.30pm. Nick Hornby opens proceedings in conversation with Henry Winter, Martin Keown talks about his Arsenal career with Amy Lawrence, and there's a session celebrating Arsenal Women with Rachel Yankey and Kirsty Pealling. The day ends with a celebrity Arsenal quiz hosted by Clive Anderson with Jazzie B, Michael Rosen and Tom Watt among the teams. Tickets from £32 in person, £10 online.

Under Milk Wood | 📍Holy Innocents Church, N8 | 26-28 Mar | (£)
Crouch End Players performing Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood at Holy Innocents Church. It's a dramatised reading (actors reading with expression, not a full production) about a day in a Welsh seaside town called Llareggub. Eccentric characters, funny and poetic. Dylan Thomas classic from the 1950s.

Dijon Café x Marley's Bakery | 📍78 Hampstead High St, NW3
Dijon, the gluten free pizza spot at Hampstead Community Market, is expanding into the unit next door. The new space is a collab with High Barnet's Marley's Bakery. Coffee, bagels, toasties, pastries, cakes, brownies. All 100% gluten free, all coeliac safe. The original unit remains as Dijon Pizzeria. A bit of backstory: Dijon's been working at Sainsbury's on the side for five years to make this happen. He just handed in his notice. Go show him some support. Opens Easter Monday, 6th April.

Big Plates at The Pocket | 📍 25 Canonbury Ln, N1
Last chance for Big Plates at The Pocket. They've been doing Saturday residencies all March. Bistro stuff, big portions, things like mince on focaccia with brûléed egg yolk, butter chicken pie, pork schnitzel, chocolate and stout steamed pudding. Sat 28th March.

Jupiter Burger at Pasero | 📍West Green Rd, N15
Jupiter Burger are doing two pop-ups at Pasero in April. Smashed Hill & Szrok beef patties, potato rolls, Jupiter sauce, hand cut fries. If you've never made it to Netil Market for one, this is your chance. Weds 1st to Sat 4th & Weds 8th to Sat 11th April.

In-N-Oot Burger at The Shoap | 📍St John St, EC1V 
James McAvoy's got a new film out, California Schemin', about two Scottish rappers pretending to be Californian hip-hop artists. So Auld Hag's The Shoap is turning into In-N-Oot Burger for a bit. Doubler Burgers with Angus patties and Scottish gouda, Medicine Fries with whisky mustard mayo, Irn-Bru shakes. Thurs 2nd to Sat 4th & Thurs 9th to Sat 11th April.

Four days of author talks, panels, workshops and book signings at Alexandra Palace this April. This year's lineup includes Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, Laura Bates, Natalie Haynes, Michael Rosen and Rachel Parris. Family events running throughout too. Full programme here.

Pete Mantle knows Hampstead Heath's birds well and this Easter Sunday he's leading a walk to find the first arrivals of spring. Chiffchaffs, willow warblers, redstarts — if they're there, he'll find them. Meet at Burgh House at 9am. Bring binoculars and wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy.

Sophia Club is bringing theoretical physicist Tony Padilla to Hoxton Hall for an evening about what's going wrong with the universe. Dark energy is behaving strangely, new data suggests it might be weakening over time, and the implications are genuinely unsettling. Padilla is a professor at Nottingham, a Numberphile regular with over 60 million views, and a good explainer of things that should be impossible to explain. Music and conversation starts at 7.30pm.

A pub quiz at Hillbilly Social in Wood Green this Thursday, and it's all boybands and girlbands. If you know your Westlife from your Destiny's Child, this might be your night. Starts 7pm, done by 9.30pm.

Crafty Fox Market has been running since 2010 and their spring edition is at Granary Square in King's Cross Easter weekend. Over 100 makers and artists each day covering ceramics, jewellery, illustration, clothing and more. Free to get in, dog friendly, runs 11am to 5pm both days. Coal Drops Yard is right next door if you want to make a full afternoon of it.

Hackney Flea Market's monthly vintage market is back on Church Street this Easter weekend, spread across Abney Hall and Room 71-73 next door. Over 40 traders, free to get in, dog friendly. Runs 10am to 5pm across all three days.