It’s the Twixtmas episode of Camdenist, featuring loads more links to diverting stories to help tide you through the second half of the holiday season - did you even realise today was Friday?

This week we’re looking back at some of the best music, comedy and thought pieces of 2023, alongside high street food hotspots to stick on your resolutions list.

The photo above is an unexpected spin on the most cliched of all local must-snap views; John Bulley’s famous Camden Lock railway bridge painting.

We usually recoil from featuring it (except on our Facebook page with this stunning, ghostly scene from a bank holiday in deepest lockdown) as it’s such a lazy way to portray the area, and serves to reduce the whole of the borough to little more than a Camden Town blow-in’s selfie or boilerplate estate agent Instagram post.

Having said that, it’s a rather nice shot, taken back in the summer when the sign was lit up as part of the late night filming of Day of The Jackal starring Eddie Redmayne, so it serves our purposes of a recap of the year ‘round here rather well. 😁

MUSIC

Honouring icons and uncovering new talent, old venues and new record shops - a year in local music stories

⭐ We were won over by Camden’s Music Walk of Fame this year, despite early reservations about whether it was too touristy, or reliant on hoary former glories rather than uncovering the latest talent. In fact, celebrating the area’s icons over a series of hot summer days - including a traffic-stopping street party - created an occasion to remind all Camdenists, near and far, what a special place this continues to be, despite all the gripes.

💈The festivities included a day in the company of locally-raised musical trailblazer Eddy Grant, who told us revealing stories of trying to make it as a black artist in London back in the 60s.

🎶 Another former Camden glory we were happy to support was the return of the name Dingwalls above the door of Vince Power’s venue, just in time for it’s 50th anniversary. Here he tells how he managed to loose the rights to use it in the first place.

🎤 Focusing firmly on the future now, this year we visited Creators House, the amazing free-to-use facilities for local young people looking to get into anything from DJing to scriptwriting. Discover three of their talented crew, from podcasters to musicians to models, interviewed here.

🪩 Ibiza came a lot closer to Camden with the opening of Lio London, bringing Balearic cabaret shows and DJs from the infamous Pacha stable to the former Cafe De Paris - prompting us to investigate all you need to know.

💿 We also rounded up info on all the remaining vinyl record shops across Camden Town for this very useful local cratediggers guide (apologies to the brand new Raven Records, who still need to be added to an updated list…)

LOCAL PARTNERSHIP

Your last-minute NYE party plans - sorted

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about what to do this Sunday night - it’s New Year’s Eve, remember?! - then we’ve got just the ticket.

York Rise classic local The Dartmouth Arms is throwing one of their own Disappearing Dining Club parties, with a six-course sit-down meal from 7pm, and a proper pub shindig afterwards, with Noise of Art’s Ben Osborne DJing alongside Itchysoul, Dave Rose and Neil Thornton from 9pm until the wee hours.

You’ve still got a chance to grab one of a handful of dinner tickets, or you can just swing by and hang out around the bar as usual.

After 11pm it’s a tenner to get in, but we’ve got four free tickets for you if you are the first person who emails [email protected] today with the subject line “NYE yes please!”

CULTURE

Fringe interests and lots more local quirk

🎭 The annual summertime standup and new play bonanza that is Camden Fringe saw us speak with some truly talented performers, from the failed Liz Truss impersonator to a man in a close relationship with his washing machine - enjoy all the interviews in one place here.

🧠 Partnering with the annual HowTheLightGetsIn festival saw us speak to the world’s best thinkers, from a leading trans philosopher to a former GCHQ boss - read all this year’s interviews here.

⛵ The return of stolen public art to Somers Town was one of the year’s good news items for culture and the community.

🕹️ We explored the mushrooming variety of places to play in the borough - from classic board games to the latest VR adventures and the irrepressible rise of immersive experiences, too.

🏢 The dark shell of the abandoned Euston Tower might not be a culture story right now, but we previewed ambitious plans for how it will be repurposed.

✈️ Most popular newsletter post of the year went to the irresistible ‘Forget HS2, how about Euston to New York City in 6 hours 11 mins?’

🎬 And finally… lets just remember the recent weekend when we finally brought the cinema back to Kentish Town Rd, with 10 short films about the ‘hood you can watch right now 😁 

GO PREMUIM

FOOD & DRINK

Four food high street hotspots to explore

Camdenist kicked off the year with the return of Secret Feasts, our great value ticketed dining events which aim to help you discover new favourite hidden restaurants right on your doorstep.

Alongside previewing each participating venue with videos and website features, we produce a guide to the wider area - well worth referring to the next time you’re in need of a decent bite…

• We started things off in Euston, an area full of culinary surprises, from stunning hand-thrown roti to secret dining rooms behind a revolving bookcase.

• Then we hit Belsize Park, where the ‘village’ square spoils visitors for culinary choices, while the wider area offers everything from all-day diners to rooftop steak houses.

• Our most popular guide was to Kentish Town, long renowned for its exciting restaurant scene and home to award-winning gastro boozers and discount noodle joints cheek by jowl on the high street.

• And finally we previewed the varied delights of Holborn’s Red Lion Street, where regional Chinese specialists rub shoulders with the best of Malay, Thai, Korean and other global cuisines just off the main drag.

CAMDEN DIARY

The weekly column about of living, working and playing in the borough will be back next year

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