This week, let’s talk money.

Our American cousins are so much more comfortable with the hustle than us Brits, which means that their relentless marketeering messages landing in our inbox all feel a little breathless and rather exhausting.

But, on the flipside, I’m sure the unselfconsciously capitalistic schtick make the business of building viable shared interest communities a lot easier, too.

Here at Camdenist, I’ve always believed that publishing for a broad local community should means the content is free for as many of those people to read as possible, rather than locking it away behind a paid membership plan, accessible only to those who can afford a subscription.

Meanwhile, the model for online newspapers, newsletters and magazines has increasingly headed towards paywalls and exclusivity, which has certainly helped reinvigorate some, (but not all), of them as the industry struggles to adapt to endless tech-led change.

Here, readers are welcome to support Camdenist via a monthly or annual membership, but as we don’t make doing so a requirement of reading any of this, or market the hell out of upgrading, not that many people are motivated to cough up, and to be honest, I understand.

So here’s the pitch.

I want to keep Camdenist free to all. I also want to develop this community, since you lot are genuinely so engaged and enthusiastic about all things local and cultural, as assorted readers tell me every single week.

Rather than pay to read, would you consider contributing towards halping these exciting development projects happen in 2026? We want to:

☑️ Put on a series of regular, free community meet-ups, with welcome drinks laid on and the occasional headline guest speaker

☑️ Deliver a season of pop-up live music events and media promotion for aspiring local bands, singers and musicians

☑️ Invest in a cohort of young content creators to review more theatre, music, comedy and cultural events in the borough each week

The target is to see if we can encourage just 25 more of the 8,000 you to join the annual membership plan, which will help towards making these ideas a reality - and would also really make my day🙏🏼.

We’ve stuck a tempting 20% discount on the annual plan, to make doing so even more exciting, but that’ll only be valid for a few days, so - as the American’s would say - BUY NOW!

A huge thank you to existing monthly and annual members who have already signed up and given all this their vote of confidence - it means a lot.

There’s also a new upgrade tier specifically for businesses in the area that are looking to grow and keen to speak to 8K Camdenist subscribers, partner on events and work with us on content creation.

By signing up, we can offer you year-round support on achieving more success from your communications, so do reply to this email and we can tell you more about the network and how it can help. There’s a 20% off introductory offer on that right now, too.

POP-UP 🍷 Combining a fair few of life’s great pleasures under one roof, Vine-yl Wine Bar is a three-week residency at The Corner Store in Chalk Farm, which sees a hand-picked selection of traditional and modern wines, boards of quality cheese and charcuterie, plus a turntable for themed vinyl listening sessions.

It’s the brainchild of Jack Milligan, who quit his job in advertising to run a mobile wine bar (crucially always playing music of equally good quality) at events and festivals. This is his first foray into a retail space.

With such a short period to play with - it runs until 23rd Nov - they are packing in all kinds of events over the coming days, from tastings (this first being on Tues 11th where you can sample five wines from Domaine de Saint Amand in Cadillac Cotes-de-Bordeaux, with cheese pairings) to quiz nights and album listening sessions.

Tonight, it’s a ‘homage to grunge’ while Sunday sees Latino tapas and wine pairings to a suitably vibrant soundtrack all day, and look out for the upcoming Britpop night, which hints at the appearance of some special guests.

WORKSHOPS: 🖌️Camden Highline, the proposed elevated park on disused railway tracks between Camden Town and King’s Cross, may be taking a while to arrive, but the community is getting on with imagining and creating what it will hopefully one day look like. Sign up to join their epic Heritage Mosaic-making sessions this coming week, featuring designs by all 532 young people who participated in their Tracking the Heritage education programme, with local artist Debra Collis. The Wednesday session is sold out, but free places can still be had on Thurs 13th Nov. if you’re quick.

FOOD: 🍜 Rapidly growing Vietnamese, HOP, is about to land in King’s Cross, knocking out colourful rice boxes and salads, rich pho, and classic banh mi. They are inevitably doing one of those sure-to-be-mobbed opening week promotions, and giving away 500 free Hop Boxes from Mon 24th Nov if you can stand getting in amongst the scrum.

ART: 🖼️ The Victorian Hall at Highgate Primary School, is the backdrop for the Highgate Art Fair 2025, which opens tonight and runs until Sunday (7th-9th Nov), with the work of both local and international artists for sale and workshops, too.

MUSIC:🎙️Stalwarts of the student scene I reviewed last month, Dandelion, line up alongside Sunday All Stars and DJ Donna Driscoll at a special Soul Nite fundraiser for Movember at Camden Club on Sat 8th Nov.

FOOD: 🥪 Bristol’s acclaimed family-run Sandwich Sandwich has just opened in Tottenham Court Road, which make it a lot easier to finally try one of their jaw-busting deep filled sarnis, flatbreads and brioche stacks.

SHOP: ⌚ Always once for celebrating the area’s more intriguing lore, Camden Watch Company have just release their No.27 Witchcraft Edition, featuring a daisy wheel, an ancient symbol once carved into buildings to ward off evil, surrounded by crescent moons representing the Triple Goddess - life, death and rebirth. It’s all apparently inspired by the fearsome legends of local wise women of old including, of course, Mother Red Cap, who lived in a cottage where the World’s End pub stands today.

STAGE: 🎭 The Voila Festival rolls on this week, with The Waiting defying the rules of conventional theatre with a vibrant, snappy, one-woman burlesque experience lasting just 30 mins. Catch it at Etcetera Theatre on 8th, 9th and 16th Nov.

TALK: 🎤 World-renowned textile artist Kaffe Fassett is going to be speaking about about his lifelong creative journey, bold approach to design and the inspirations behind his extraordinary use of colour at Clarence Hall on Fri 14th Nov in support of Castlehaven.

MUSIC: 🎶American rapper, singer and songwriter and queer rights advocate Princess Nokia hits the stage at KOKO this Sun 9th Nov for a London appearance sure to come with empowering messaging and bold self-expression.

We’re keen to help build a thriving ecosystem of decent newsletters you might like, which focus on the topics like the ones we cover here in Camdenist every week. You may have seen a few such suggestions when you first signed up to receive our weekly updates.

Among the most popular with new readers is The London Weekend, another one with a simple premise to cut nicely through the content overwhelm, and deliver free inspiration for going out in the days ahead.