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As Notting Hill Carnival brings London’s streets alive with unbridled dancing and merriment, (an event I consistently rate as being the world’s ultimate fiesta/festival, and if anyone would like to prove me wrong, just send travel tickets to the usual address 😉), we’re beginning an exciting series of Guest Editor takeovers here at Camdenist.

Kicking things off suitably enough, we have the visionary behind one of the capital’s most intriguing annual festivals, HowTheLightGetsIn, which uniquely mixes lively debate, philosophy, music, DJs and comedy, returning to Hampstead Heath next month - details and exclusive discount below.

This Week’s Guest Editor: Hilary Lawson

Founder, the Institute of Art and Ideas

“I live in Kentish Town and have always loved the Heath. It's absolutely vital to us in choosing a location for our festival that it's also in a glorious setting, and what is more glorious than the gardens of historic Kenwood House?

HowTheLightGetsIn started in Hay on Wye, on the banks of a river that’s frequently thought to be the most beautiful river in Britain, and we aim to replicate as much as we can of that original experience here in our London location, too.

We always want to be at the edge of culture and ideas; to hear from people who are thinking originally and ahead of the zeitgeist about the big topics of the day – be that science, philosophy, politics, arts or culture generally – and always asking, ‘where are we going next’?

In the process, we’re very fortunate in having built a reputation that attracts genuinely the biggest thinkers in the world to our event. They come because they love the environment and the fact that they get to talk to other great minds. You also get the chance to bump into them in the coffee queue. That’s the atmosphere of the festival - there are no VIP areas or anything like that.

This year’s theme is Navigating The Unknown. One of the characteristics of 21st Century life is that we are increasingly aware of alternative perspectives. It’s not as if you can find the one answer to anything, but one way of dealing with that problem is everybody’s voices getting louder and louder about their particular perspective, which is just a route to conflict.

One hundred years ago, the idea was that the scientists and academics were right and knew how things should be, and would impose that on the rest of the world. We don’t quite buy that any more.

And just thirty years ago, Prof. Stephen Hawking was talking about a theory of everything, but he later abandoned that idea in favour of science simply providing us with alternative models by which we might understand the world. But that raises the profound question of how we then choose the models? Which one is the best way forward?

So one of the key themes we’ll be addressing at this year’s festival is what do we do about that? How do we collectively navigate the unknown? I do hope you’ll join us in trying.”

HowTheLightGetsIn returns 21st-22nd September to Kenwood House, promising a bigger and better line-up than ever. As the world’s largest ideas and music festival, you’ll hear from Sam Harris, Sadiq Khan, Clare Chambers, Yoshua Bengio Carla Denyer, Slavoj Žižek, John Bercow, Philippa Gregory, Nadhim Zahawi, Ruby Wax and loads more. With debates, talks, comedy, and live music across the weekend, you’ll listen to the world’s top thinkers give their views on the most urgent issues facing society today.

📊 This week's one-click poll

Another big response came it to last week’s poll on Universal Basic Income. See the results and read some of the many comments in the Community section below…

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MORE FESTIVALS

🥳 Bandstand, food or a closing down bonanza?

🎶 It’s the closing weekend of the free King’s Cross Summer Sounds music festival, with the likes of artists from the English National Opera on Saturday 24th and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra on Sunday 25th, plus multi-talented musician and TV broadcaster Yolanda Brown, too. Rounding things off with a fiesta of folk music on bank holiday Monday, too.

🌲Tonight sees a second attempt at hosting the mighty Dig It Soundsystem free party at Parli Hill bandstand, after the original date in July was moved indoors due to inclement weather (it was pissing it down). Expect the usual tribal gathering of North London party people getting very animated on the grass from 5pm until sundown, with a carry on at the nearby Dartmouth Arms for those that can’t stop.

🐔 West End Lane's famous Czech restaurant Bohemia House are throwing Schnitzel Fest this weekend, serving up traditional chicken, pork and turkey schnitzels with various potato sides.

👗 Sad news for lovers of 50s style clothing, as Camden Market stalwart Collectif Clothing have gone into administration. Before they go, there’s a bittersweet bonanza taking place today until Sunday at their shops where everything really must go, and every item is just £5.

FOOD + DRINK

🍸 Return of a cocktail classic

Great to see that Oriole, the popular quality speakeasy, which lost its original Smithfields home due to the huge redevelopment of that area, is returning this week to The Yards in Covent Garden.

The new location sees them expand a complete Latin American-meets-European food offering alongside the live jazz music and killer cocktails that won the original joint such accolades.

It officially opens next Wednesday, but you’ll get a cool 25% off if you book this weekend during the soft launch.

🔥 Also brand new, over in Carnaby is Goldies, doing sharing plates, frites ‘n dips, plus all manner of wood-fired mains from their big grill. It’s just opened as the latest ground floor dining spot on the ever-updated roster at Kingley Court.

🦑 Another week another local branch of Cote closes for good - this time the Hampstead High Street one (they’ve chopped 20 restaurants from the group in recent months). It will become a branch of conversely expending Thai chain Giggling Squid - Hampstead clearly not yet so resilient to new chains as we recently reported its similarly leafy neighbour, Highgate, has become.

STAGE

Final Fringe Finales

🤣 It's the end of Camden Fringe this weekend, so here are our final few things to try, starting with Hot Ghoul Summer, where standups Anitha Sri and Katie Kamola join forces at Aces & Eights tomorrow Saturday 24th August.

💖 Spit In My Face sees Pierre questioning monogamy while navigating his suitably complex modern relationship with Adam. It’s at Camden People’s Theatre tonight through to Sunday 23rd - 25th Aug at 9pm.

👨🏻‍🦽 Also at CPT Fri - Sun (the 7.15pm show) is And I’ll Blow Your House Down, a ‘disenchanted storytelling’ and physical theatre show about family disability in an ableist society.

🍼 The fascinating true story of Mrs Pack, wet nurse to the second in line to the throne back in 1689, and therefore both extraordinarily powerful and powerless at once, is told in this musical at Etcetera Theatre, running this Sat & Sun, 24th & 25th.

MUSIC

🎶 Carnival weekend is roastin’ hawt!

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