🦊 Things to do this weekend in North London November 1-2

Some options for you…

Muswell Hill Vintage Bus Running Day | 📍Various Routes | 2 Nov | Free
Vintage buses running on routes 43, 210 and W7 all day from 10:30am. Rides are free, buy a programme on the day for timetables and history. All proceeds and donations go to Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and BBC Children in Need.

Abney Park Chapel Open Day | 📍Abney Park, N16 | 2 Nov | Free
Rare chance to see inside the newly restored Abney Park Chapel from 11am-1pm. Drop in anytime to look around, or join the 30-minute talk at noon about the chapel's history. Dogs on leads welcome, toilets and baby changing available.

Thee Market Plug Pop-Up | 📍Angel Yard, Edmonton, N18 | 2 Nov | (£)
Pop-up market from 1-6pm with 25+ vendors selling unique finds, hot food and drinks, live music, and craft stalls. Painting workshop included (with hot drinks), plus bouncy castle and gladiator duel arena.

Chuckl. Comedy Club with Seann Walsh | 📍Arts Depot, North Finchley, N12 | 1 Nov | (£)
Comedy night at artsdepot from 7:30pm with four stand-up comedians. Seann Walsh headlines - he's been on Live at the Apollo, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and The Last Leg. Plus Keith Farnan (Irish comic who's done Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow), Finlay Christie (Gen Z comedian with 450k YouTube followers), and Kate Barron (Canadian stand-up now based in London).

ON ICE at Brent Cross | 📍John Lewis Car Park, NW4 | 31 Oct-5 Jan | (£)
Ice rink returns to Brent Cross from Halloween through to January. 45-minute skating sessions starting on the hour. Skate hire included in ticket price. Ice marshals and penguin skating aids for kids learning. At John Lewis Car Park.



Highgate Watercolour Group Exhibition | 📍Lauderdale House, N6 | 29 Oct-24 Nov | Free
Annual exhibition from Highgate Watercolour Group with around 200 watercolour paintings across two floors. Scenes from north London spots like Highgate, Hampstead, Ally Pally and Holland Park, plus landscapes from further out. Florals, still-lifes and abstracts too.

If you've been wanting a sign to discover new music, here it is. Pitchfork's putting on a week of gigs across 16 London venues. Starts midweek with smaller underground acts, builds up to a weekend takeover at Roundhouse and five Dalston venues.

Ever seen what a 1920s Tube map looked like? This exhibition shows 150 years of London through original antique posters - early travel ads, theatre shows, political moments, everyday notices.

Sunday evening talk with design expert David Bownes on how the city sold itself through posters over time. Rare pieces for sale, many for the first time, including early Tube maps and works by Hockney and Riley. My North London readers get 10% off admission throughout the exhibition (general public only gets 5%). Use code: London2025 in store (40 Cross Street, Islington, N1 2BA) or online. Go see what London looked like to the people who lived here before you.

Retro gaming market with stalls selling old video games, consoles, board games and merchandise. Happens every four months.

Christmas market over four days with hundreds of stalls selling handmade gifts and festive food. Standard tickets £25 for browsing and shopping. VIP tickets cost more but include talks from Claire Balding, Jojo Moyes, Dame Jacqueline Wilson and David Suchet. Champagne bar and food market on site. At Business Design Centre, Islington. Sold out last year so book ahead if you want to go.

Ten days of jazz across London with over 300 shows at venues from basement bars to Royal Albert Hall. This year's lineup includes Bilal, Stella Cole and Nubya Garcia. Europe's biggest pan-city music festival bringing 100,000+ people to venues across the capital. Running since 1992. Check the full programme for specific shows and venues.

Help plant spring bulbs in the new two-acre Queen Elizabeth II memorial garden before it opens next year. One-hour sessions between 10am-2:30pm - 30 minutes planting daffodils, snowdrops and other bulbs, then 20-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the garden under construction. PPE provided including steel toe boots and hi-vis (it's an active building site).

Independent wine market from 12-9pm where London wine retailers and producers pour interesting bottles you won't find in supermarkets. Free to browse, or buy a £20 Tasting Pack to try wines as you go. Traders include St. John, Crystal Palace Wine Club, English vineyards and fruit wine makers. Party wines through to serious Christmas bottles.

Christmas market across two days from 11am-4pm with over 50 stalls in the period rooms and historic courtyard. Handmade crafts, gifts, local makers. Food court with seasonal food and drinks, plus mulled wine and mince pies. Outdoor music.

Yup, Jeremy Corbyn's swapping Parliament for panto this Christmas, appearing on screen as the Wizard of Oz-lington in every performance. It won't be the first time he's faced boos and cheers in equal measure - but this time it's all panto fun. The show's a mash-up of Wicked and Wizard of Oz set in the "Borough of Oz-lington" where Dorothy returns 20 years later for a Christmas adventure. Pop song parodies, panto magic, ages 5+, from £10. Fancy seeing a politician promising magic and actually delivering it? You decide.

Traditional Danish Christmas market over two days. You’ll find stalls selling Danish Christmas decorations, sweets, chocolate, cards and spruce arrangements. Danish food including open sandwiches, gløgg (mulled wine), æbleskiver (Danish doughnuts) and hot dogs from their own stand. There’s also Christmas lottery and Tombola.

Borough Welsh Choir performing Christmas carols from 3-4pm at the Foundling Museum. Ticket includes museum entry, plus drinks and mince pies. See the museum's Christmas displays and their autumn exhibition A Grand Chorus about the power of music.