Your Friday morning essential read. Five local feel-good highlights, including exclusive special offers and events. Prepared with love by the team at Camdenist

 NEW: Kentish Town pleasure garden opens this month 

A huge new 12,000 sq ft entertainment venue is preparing to open in the forgotten hinterland that is Regis Road Industrial Estate in Kentish Town. Brought to us by the people behind the established Vauxhall Food & Beer Garden, the Camden version has Covid-secure seating for a whopping 950 people and will be going big on summer sports events including Euro 2020 and Wimbledon on giant screens. When the big games aren't on, expect a dizzying array of bottomless brunches (every Saturday), drag bingo, musical showcases such as Rum & Reggae and more, right through the summer and onwards to hosting outdoor Oktoberfest celebrations. Eight different international streetfood vendors will mean plenty to chow down on, too. Find out more and book your tables now. 

 FESTIVAL: Win 4 passes + VIP travel to Campo Sancho 

How does a small, family-friendly, three-day music festival that's less than an hour away sound for this summer? Campo Sancho is all that, plus DJs including Norman Jay MBE, Miguel Campbell and DJ Paulette. It's so close you can get a taxi there, so we've teamed up with ride-hailing app FREE NOW and the lovely people at Campo Sancho to offer an incredible prize of 4 x festival tickets and return door-to-door travel in a premium electric powered eco-taxi. To be in with a chance, simply share your referral link (below) with as many people as you can. You'll get an entry into the prize draw for every person you get to sign up to these Friday morning emails until the closing date of July 9th. Full details here 

 Or share with a click... Email  |  WhatsApp  |  Tweet  |  Facebook  |  LinkedIn You've recommended a total of  people so far.  

 READ: Camdenist is coming through your door  

We're excited to announce that the debut of Camdenist in print format will arrive in the letterboxes of all Camden residents over the next few days. Look out for your free 24-page guide to celebrating and supporting the best of the borough. From hot new places to go to reminders of old favourites, interviews, jobs and wellness advice, keep it close at hand all summer. We'd love to hear your feedback! Email us on [email protected]

 LISTEN: The power of the voice 

This week we've been speaking to Mark and Ben, founders of

TannOi

, an app that aims to improve social media by introducing the simple, expressive power of our voices. Friends from their Camden school days,

they both left us voice notes

explaining why they feel TannOi can help everyone, from the disabled to the compulsive social media scrollers. We'll be following their story over the coming months as part of a summer-long series about music and sound in Camden, too.

 WATCH: Printmaking in Queen's Crescent, 1970 

Since today is the day Camdenist proudly goes into print, we thought it a perfect occasion to enjoy this short BBC archive film featuring the legendary Studio Prints of Queen's Crescent. Owner Dorothea Wight used the shop to craft fine handmade prints for the likes of Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and many other top artists. But of just as much interest is the snapshot of local life in the early 70s on the Crescent, let alone hearing the printmaker's now historic accents.

 THIS WEEK'S ONE-CLICK POLL How far are you going to attempt travelling on holiday this summer? 

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:

How much did you bend the regulations during the lockdowns? 

This anonymous poll had the votes flooding in, so it's likely that the results are fairly close to the truth. An honest 25% of voters admitting to regular breeching of Covid rules, but a sturdy 47% stuck with the guidance, no matter how confusing or frustrating. However we coped, fingers crossed that the lockdown days are nearly behind us...

Camdenist is collaborative and transparent by design. We want all locals to participate, so we've built a form where you can send us ideas, propose features, and even contribute your own work.

 Well worth following...