Hey Neighbour,
Just a quick heads up, the clocks go back this Sunday (26th Oct) at 2am. Extra hour in bed, but also darker evenings. The trade-off nobody asked for.
In the meantime...
Plan Your Weekend:
Round Up
Bits and bobs worth knowing.
✨ A Christmas Light Trail is coming to Kenwood House: Peter Pan-themed route with a six-meter crocodile, Captain Hook's ship, and flying books across Hampstead Heath grounds. Runs 21 Nov - 3 Jan with festive food and drinks along the way. £1 per ticket goes to Great Ormond Street Hospital..
🍜 Ivan Ramen is finally opening in London: The cult NYC ramen spot from Netflix's Chef's Table lands in Clerkenwell with tonkotsu, chicken paitan, and a London-only salt beef bao. Opens 19 Nov at 98 Farringdon Road - worth booking ahead for the 26-seater.
🎭 Camden's former Town Hall reopens as major arts venue: The 1937 neoclassical building transformed into exhibition space and cultural hub with 13-meter-high ceilings. Now open - already hosting talks from Wicked's Cynthia Erivo, Richard Ayoade, and philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Members' club launching soon.
🏆 Islington crowned London's best borough by Secret London readers: That’s right this north London borough beat Kensington & Chelsea and Wandsworth to top spot. Praised for blending city buzz with village vibes, plus indie cafes, green spaces, and Regent's Canal. Camden came 8th in the rankings.
🎃 Kenwood House's Halloween decorations are causing drama: People are calling the decorations - caged skeletons, coffins, fake corpses - "gruesome" and "traumatising for kids." Plus it's blocking the disabled parking. Others reckon they need the money (£3m/year to run the place).
My North London Top Events
Día de Muertos at Canopy Market | 📍King's Cross, N1C | 24-26 October | Free
Mexican Day of the Dead celebration taking over Canopy Market for three days. Browse craft stalls selling jewellery and art, eat tacos and pan dulce (sweet bread), and watch live mariachi bands and traditional dancers. There's a tequila bar if you fancy a drink. Day of the Dead processions happen Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 2pm - you can bring photos or flowers to add to the community altar remembering loved ones.
Islington Clothes Swap | 📍Islington North Library, N7 | 25 October | Free
Clothes swap from 11:30am-4pm where you bring up to 5 clean items and trade them for tokens to swap for other people's clothes. Drop items from 11:30am, swapping starts at noon. The token system works like this: items worth under £50 get you 1 token, over £50 gets you 2 tokens (look for yellow stickers). Bring clothing, accessories or shoes in good condition - no underwear or worn shoes. Part of Circular Economy Week preventing wearable clothes going to landfill.
Hot Wheels Stunt Show | 📍OVO Arena Wembley, HA9 | 25-26 October | (£)
Live Hot Wheels stunt show with real-size versions of GT Scorcher, Boneshaker and Rodger Dodger doing backflips, ramp jumps and a 10-metre-tall 360-loop. Legendary toy cars brought to life with proper stunts. Use code HOTWHEELS50 for 50% off all tickets.
Source: Hot Wheels Stunt Show
Plant Sale | 📍Clitterhouse Farm, Cricklewood, NW2 | 23-25 Oct | Free to browse
Three-day plant sale at community garden with organically grown annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables - all grown in peat-free compost by volunteers. No booking needed, just turn up between opening hours (Thursday 11am-3pm, Saturday 10am-4pm). Community cafe serving homemade food and cakes while you browse. They'll lend you a wheelbarrow if you buy too much to carry. Free parking in nearby streets.
Apple Day at Kentish Town City Farm | 📍Kentish Town, NW5 | 26 Oct | (£)
Annual apple celebration from 12-4pm with free apple tasting, arts and crafts, live music, meeting the farm animals, and a wishing tree. BBQ and cakes available to buy, plus mulled cider, chocolate apples, face painting and pottery. £1 entry for adults, 50p for kids.
Harvest Festival | 📍Crouch End, N4 | 26 Oct | Free
Stroud Green Market's big harvest festival from 10am-3:30pm with 45 food and drink stalls. There's a homemade jam and pickle competition you can enter - just bring your jars labelled with what's in them and your name. Pie and real ale tasting, loads of heritage apples and pears to try, plus different tartes tatin made with various fruits. Live music, raffle, mulled wine, cider, sausage baps, burgers and pizza. Some stalls sell out early so don't leave it till 3pm.
🥣 My Go-To Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
To me, butternut squash is like that friend you don't see often, but whenever you do, it's like they never left.
I wish I could tell you the first time I made this soup was on a chilly October afternoon with leaves falling and birds chirping. But no, it was February, pouring rain, and I only grabbed butternut squash because it was randomly on sale.
The soup itself is smooth, sweet, and has that warmth that makes you want another bowl even when you're full. The first time I made it, my mum, who has opinions about everything (mind you, most of them are unsolicited), went quiet for a full minute, then asked if there was more. That's when I knew I was onto something.
I love making soups, but this one? This is the one that even my tough-crowd family requests by name.
Want to share your recipe? fill in this form
🎟️ 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.
Annie Frost Nicholson Exhibition | 📍Mare Street Market, N1C | 30 Oct-16 Nov | Free
Free art exhibition with colourful paintings about nostalgia - cassette tapes, old phones, stuff from before everything went digital. Opens 30 October, 6-9pm at Mare Street Market in Coal Drops Yard. There's a workshop on 1 November if you want to make your own prints about memories.
Guildhall Christmas Market | 📍Guildhall, EC2V | 8-9 Dec | (£)
Christmas market inside the medieval Guildhall raising money for British Red Cross. Dozens of stalls selling handmade gifts including products designed by refugees, plus Ukrainian family-run wooden lamp business. Market's in the Great Hall and Old Library with their stained glass windows and Gothic architecture.
The Big Draw Festival: Drawing with Light | 📍Camden Market Hawley Wharf, NW1 | 30 Oct | Free
Light and dance performance at dusk starting on pedestrianised Camden High Street and moving to Hawley Wharf canalside. Choreographed by David Blake with internationally acclaimed dancers using lighting technologies that follow their movements. The lights, sounds and music draw from Camden's past and present histories.
What’s On This Weekend: 25th - 26th October 2025
Your guide to what’s happening in North London this week. Events marked with (£) require a ticket in advance.
🎉 FAMILY FUN
Halloween in the Gardens | 📍Stephens House & Gardens, Finchley, N3 | 26 Oct | (£)
Halloween event from 5-7pm with spine-chilling cellars to explore, spooky garden spectre hunt, and fire artist performance. Bring your own torch and pen for the hunt. Cafe open. Entry via East End Road gate.
Free Family Films at Visitor Pavilion | 📍Claremont Road, Cricklewood, NW2 | 26 Oct-2 Nov | Free
Free family film screenings with free popcorn during half term. Brave on Sunday 26 October, Moana 2 on Monday 27 October, Strange World on Sunday 2 November - all running 2-4pm. No booking needed, just turn up. All ages welcome.
The Secret Garden | 📍Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington, N16 | 25 Oct & 1 Nov | (£)
Remember The Secret Garden? The classic about the orphan who finds a locked garden? It's been adapted for stage at Tower Theatre with puppets and music bringing the Yorkshire moors to life. Tickets start at £9, evening and afternoon shows across the weekend.
K-KIDS K-Pop Halloween Party | 📍Holloway Road, N7 | 25 October | (£)
K-pop party for families from 1:30-4pm with an hour dedicated to Stray Kids and K-Pop Demon Hunters tracks. DJ playing K-pop hits with club lighting and Halloween decorations. All ages welcome but kids under 14 need an adult with them, and adults can't come without kids. Dress up in Halloween costumes or K-pop inspired outfits.
🖼️ CULTURE & CURIOSITIES
Secret Maps | 📍British Library, NW1 | 24 Oct-18 Jan | (£)
British Library exhibition showing maps you were never meant to see - from the 14th century to today. Maps created by governments and groups to hide information, protect secrets, or deliberately mislead. Some reveal hidden landscapes erased from official histories, others were designed to mask strategic locations or reshape how we see the world. Runs until January so plenty of time to visit.
Stampex International | 📍Business Design Centre, N1 | 22-25 Oct | Free
Stamp collectors and traders from around the world gathering at the Business Design Centre. The Philatelic Traders Society has been running this since 1956 - businesses, societies, exhibitors and hobbyists trading collectibles. Free to attend, no registration needed. Four days of stamps from serious collectors and dealers.
Source: Frock Me! Vintage Fair
✨WIT & WONDER
Resistance Comedy: Funny @ DAC | 📍Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield | 25 Oct | (£)
Stand-up comedy night with seven comedians at Dugdale Arts Centre from 8pm. Headliner Darran Griffiths (British Comedian of the Year finalist) plus Rick Kiesewetter hosting, Tasha Cluskey, Rob Moriarty, Junior Booker, DOM LTR and Wes Defoe.
Alex McAleer: Mind Reader | 📍Artsdepot, N12 | 25 October | (£)
Mind reading show mixing comedy with psychological tricks that'll have you wondering how he did it. Alex McAleer reads thoughts, guesses what you're thinking, and keeps it funny rather than spooky. Played sold-out Edinburgh Fringe shows and toured with Champions of Magic.
Is It Worth Leaving North London for?
I don’t know, but here’s what caught my eye.
Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair | 📍Kensington Town Hall, W8 | 26 Oct | (£)
Massive vintage fair with over 100 dealers selling clothes and jewellery from Victorian times through to recent designer stuff. Three floors at Kensington Town Hall from 11am-5:30pm. You'll find British vintage brands like Ossie Clark and Biba alongside loads of other pieces. Been running since 1997 so dealers know their stuff.
London Literature Festival | 📍Southbank Centre,SE1 | 21 Oct-2 Nov | (£)
Two weeks of author talks, readings and book events at the Southbank Centre. Mix of well-known writers and new voices doing events throughout the festival. Various ticket prices depending on which events you go to. Been running every autumn for years. Check the full programme to see if any authors or topics you're into are appearing.
MCM London Comic Con | 📍ExCeL London, E16 | 24-26 Oct | (£)
UK's biggest comic con at ExCeL across three days. Meet actors from TV, film, anime and gaming, browse independent artists and creators selling on the show floor, plus panels and events.
THANKS FOR READING!
↳ Street food market? Your mate's coffee shop event? New launch? Festival? Art gallery? Nothing is too big or too small, you can send it all here.
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