FESTIVALS

🌞 This summer ain’t over yet, baby

How nice is it that September has stealthily nudged itself up into becoming arguably the best bit of the whole summer?

Everyone’s back from their OOO jollies and collectively knuckling down to a productive local life again, yet the mercury hasn’t plummeted… (unless I just jinxed it right there, of course🤷🏼‍♀️).

Combine that window of time with an outdoor season that’s been jam-packed with events since back in May, and summer-type celebrations naturally, happily extend onwards all this month.

Consequently, there are free festivals galore to explore this weekend, so make a point of checking a few of these out.

• 🥇 First and foremost, the two-day fiesta of creativity Camden Inspire is happening in and around Buck Street tomorrow and Sunday.

  Read all about the top draw live music, food traders, creative workshops and loads more that you can dive into from, midday to 8pm both days.

• 🎸 Camden Town is certainly big on free parties right now, as the culmination of the Inspire events series follows on from last weekend’s Inverness Street hip hop block party, with the inaugural Camden Music Festival hot on it’s heels, up next.

  Things kick off on Monday, with the first of 11 new stones on the Music Walk of Fame being laid daily, plus gigs and events by night, culminating in a big free bash across two stages next weekend.

  We asked you lot for your thoughts about this UK take on Hollywood Boulevard’s famous walk of stars landing in our very own streets, and the results might be a surprise.

  Read the results of the poll and all the reader’s comments in today’s special dedicated Camdenist feature.

• NW5 party-starter Michael Ptootch is one of the crew behind the all new Bartholomew Road Street Fair, which steps in to the festival fray on Saturday afternoon.
  He’s previously been key to the much-loved Alma Street Fair, which sadly didn’t happen this year, so expect a creative mix of live music (from samba to opera, apparently), food, stalls and Kentish Town’s enviably eclectic crowds.

• 🏦 Meanwhile, in other Bartholomew-related festival news, the City of London have decided the way to coax people back into the Square Mile in the WFH era is via a cultural bonanza, so they’ve gone and reinstated the centuries old Bartholomew Fair (last held in 1855!)
  The first of over 250 events in the programme kicked off yesterday, with a vertical dance performance on the façade of St Paul’s Cathedral, and continues with similar flourish over the next three weeks.
  Look out for immersive theatre, night-time culture tours, outdoor food and drinks (of course), and pre-loved clothing pop-ups from the excellent CharitySuper.Mkt.

• 🌾 Other events squeezing more juice out of the proverbial summer fruit include a bumper bandstand blowout afternoon up at Parliament Hill this Sunday (3rd) called Natural Aspect, featuring live global sounds from Jamaican Ska to Irish country and folk.

• 🍧 Or head to Covent Garden, where The Frozen Festival is already in full swing, with Insta-friendly ice cream-themed indulgences being offered by loads of their best bars, cafés, restaurants and Seven Dials Market food hall traders.

• Then next Friday (8th) from 5pm sees Chalk Farm pub The Farrier throwing their first ever Camden Beer Festival, where a single ticket gets you three tokens for half pints from the likes of Peckham’s Brick Brewery, Leyton’s Nirvana Brewery and Camden’s own 3 Locks - plus a special appearance from neighbouring gin distillery Half Hitch, too.

CAMDENIST FESTIVAL PROMO

20% off tickets to HowTheLightGetsIn

The world’s largest philosophy and music festival returns to Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath 23rd - 24th September. Renowned as a hub for world-leading thinkers, Mercury-prize winning musicians and cutting-edge comedians, this year’s festival theme is ‘Dangers, Desire, and Destiny’. See Ruby Wax, Alastair Campbell, Rory Stewart, Deborah Frances-White, David Baddiel, Michio Kaku and more lock horns over a packed weekend of debates, talks and performances.

As partners of the festival, we’re thrilled to offer 20% off full festival tickets when you book here using the code CAM23 at checkout.

This week we caught up with festival organiser and local resident Hilary Lawson to discuss how the event has grown, the latest thinking on AI, risk and truth, and how he’s hoping this year’s event goes off without (another) apocalypse.

STAGE

Support EtCetera Theatre tonight

As previously reported, the beloved more-than-three-decades-old Camden High Street pub theatre is threatened with having to close due to the long tail of Covid and the general Brexity cost of living crunchy awfulness that’s currently impacting touring companies and audiences alike.

They won’t go without a fight though, launching a crowdfunder and now embarking on a second Indie Summer Festival this season, picking up where the curtain has just fallen on the Camden Fringe.

The mini festival means you have a chance to catch special added shows from some of the Fringe hits, including the final time to see Have I Got News For You writer Suchandrika Chakrabarti’s ‘Doomscrolling’ which is on tonight, so hurry and grab the last tickets.

And if you missed our interview with her, do read that now, too.

FOOD & DRINK

3 nearby to try

• 🪔 Monday sees the Grade II-listed Kingsway location of a defunct branch of Bill’s transformed into 42 Holborn, a swish Mediterranean all-day dining and event space, which looks like it should be an impressive new West End spot.

• 🍷 The ambitious expansion beyond Coal Drops Yard for terrace dining superstars Hicce continues apace. Having opened a pub and a pizza joint over in nearby Chapel Market, they’ve now announced their latest venture, Folly Row. It’s the room upstairs at Hicce Hart (the pub) and offers a single menu (£45 for 5 courses, or £75 with wine pairings) and a single seating, so you can luxuriate in having your table for the whole night.

• 🍛 While there was much upset last week at the news of The Strand’s legendary India Club closing after 70+ years serving decent curry, the nearby Lyceum Theatre is preparing to offer a taste of the future. Calcutta-inspired Paro is soft-opening shortly offering a 50% discount until the end of the month, and is the debut restaurant from Niaz Caan, exec chef at Brick Lane’s City Spice, where he started in the kitchen aged 14.

REMEMBER TO CLAIM YOU FREE EBIKE CREDITS!

MUSIC

Live and on your doorstep this week

• 🎶 Hurry if you want to snap one of the last remaining tickets to see Grammy Award-winning Afrobeat champ Burna Boy, who’s here to celebrate his new album tonight at Chalk Farm’s Roundhouse.

• 🎷 80s British R&B sensation Loose Ends are touring again, with a raft of new songs alongside the stone cold classics, and you can catch them at Pizza Express Live Holborn on Saturday (2nd).

•  🪞Witness fast-rising East End 5-piece Boy Bleach reinvent the British boy band with their genre-blending influences at Lafayette in KX this Wednesday (6th).

Gig highlights in association with Halibuts.com

MORE GOSSIP & THINGS TO DO

• ➡️ The Hogwarts Express departs King’s Cross at 11am today as part of the global Back to Hogwarts day, so look out for loads of over-excited wizards and Harry Potter-themed events in the area all weekend.

• ➡️ An enjoyable account of the long and ongoing history of cult Camden fashion emporium and clubber/goth brand Cyberdog was published by Time Out this week.

• ➡️ Festival headliner Bilie Eilish had fans queueing right around Camden Town tube for her intimate secret show at the Electric Ballroom earlier in the week, and NME have helpfully compiled loads of shaky phone footage and more so you can see what it was like inside if you weren’t one of the lucky 500 ticketholders.

• ➡️ Oops - local global beer behemoth Camden Town Brewery have had their animated TV ad banned after complaints that its colouful cartoon characters being taken on a fantastical ride down a beer river might appeal to children.

• ➡️ Remember, if you love a trip to the movies that it’s National Cinema Day on Sunday (2nd), where you can get tickets for just £3 at loads of local screens including Curzon Camden under the Hawley Wharf arches.

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