If you've ever waited for a bus at Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley, you've stood in front of a palace. You've probably never known it.

There's a building on that corner you've walked past a hundred times. You might know it for the panto and family days out. What you might not know is what stood there before it, and what still goes on inside it after dark.

The Gaumont

It opened on a Monday night in July 1937, and it was one of the grandest cinemas in London.

They called it the Gaumont. It seated 2,165 people. The screen sat behind a stretch of wall fifty-three feet wide. The walls were panelled in mahogany, a café behind a long window above the door let you eat and watch the street below, and on opening night an organ rose up on a lift beside the stage and played to a full house.

Saturday mornings were for the children. Evenings were for the grown-ups, lights down, Hollywood on the screen, and a night out.

One building, living two lives, depending on the time of day.

The lights go out

Nothing lasts. The Gaumont ran for forty-three years, and by the end the crowds had thinned, the way they did for the big old cinemas everywhere. It showed its last film in October 1980, and the doors closed for good.

After that it just sat there. Rank, the company that owned Britain's big cinemas, had put a clause in the sale banning any future cinema on the site. So there would never be another. The palace stood empty on the corner for seven years, dark, locked, going slowly to ruin while the traffic went round it. Then, in 1987, the demolition crews came, and North Finchley stood on the pavement and watched one of the grandest buildings it ever had come down brick by brick.

For fifteen years, the corner sat empty. The site became a car park. On Sundays, a market. The rest of the time, bare tarmac where a palace used to be.

The one question

artsdepot exists because somebody asked a question.

In 1996, at a Barnet council meeting, a local stood up and asked why North Finchley didn't have an arts centre. That was the whole beginning.

It didn't come easy. For a while the plan was to put a library on the site instead, and local people fought that off. When the doors finally opened in 2004, more than two and a half thousand people came through them on the first Saturday alone. Prince Edward opened it officially, and Evelyn Glennie played.

The corner had its gathering place back. Same spot, new building, same idea it always had.

Children by day, grown-ups by night

artsdepot is known as a family place. The panto, the soft play, the Sunday morning children's shows and classes. And it is all of that.

But that's only one half of the building.

After dark, like the Gaumont before it, it becomes a different place altogether. Comedy, theatre, live music and dance take over the stages.

One corner, two lives. Just like it always had.

Before you go

Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🦏 It's weigh-in day at London Zoo: Every year keepers weigh and measure around 400 animals for their annual health check. Some hop on the scales happily. Others need bribing with snacks. This year: capybara siblings Kiwi (45kg) and Gizmo (50.5kg) among those weighed. Giant Magnolia Land Snail No 2 came in at a modest 102.5g.

☕ Mixed reviews for new Daisy Green café at Parliament Hill: Opened in July replacing the D'Auria Brothers who ran the café for 45 years. Early Google reviews split between praise and criticism. Positive: great atmosphere, lovely staff, modern feel, good coffee. Negative: chaotic service, wrong orders, prices too steep for a park café. One reviewer noted £70 for three mains and three coffees. Another pointed out the kids spaghetti bolognese had no meat.

Sofar Sounds at Calthorpe Garden | 📍 King's Cross, WC1X | 30 August | (£)
If your bank holiday leans more slow Sunday than a big night out, this may be the one. Calthorpe is a hidden garden near King's Cross, and for one evening there's live music on the grass. You bring a blanket, find a spot, and a few folk and acoustic singer-songwriters play as the sun goes down. Sofar keeps the lineup secret till the night, so you come for the setting and meet the music when you get there. Food is a vegetarian Eritrean menu from a guest chef cooking alongside refugee chefs, boxes are £11, and there's a bar with wine, Aperol Spritzes and pints around a fiver.

My North London readers get a free plus-one: buy one ticket and the second's on the house with code BANKHOLIDAY-16683



Quince Bakery’s 3rd Annual Pie Party | 📍Quince Bakery, N1 | 31 August | (£)
Quince Bakery is turning Bank Holiday Monday into one big pie table. For its third annual Pie Party, the Islington bakery is inviting some of London’s best independent bakers, including Bake Street, Decatur, Lucky Yu Bakery and Hamblin Bread, to each bring their own take on pie. Expect everything from fruit filled and lattice topped slices to savoury pies, mini pies and big sharing slabs. Last year they baked almost 500, and this time they are aiming even bigger. There will also be coffee, iced tea, ice cream and snacks while you queue. Doors open at 12pm and they keep serving until the pies are gone.

Inverness Street Bloc Party: Disco House | 📍Inverness Street Market, Camden, NW1 | 29 August | Free
Inverness Street is swapping market stalls for a giant outdoor dancefloor this Bank Holiday Saturday. The theme is Disco House, so expect the feel good side of disco mixed with house music, with DJs including Brandon Block, Ricky Morrison and Matt White playing from midday into the evening. There is a bit of Camden history behind it too, celebrating the clubs and dancefloors that shaped the area, from Camden Palace to the Electric Ballroom, as well as Camden’s connection to Claudia Jones, who organised one of Britain’s earliest Caribbean Carnival events nearby. Come for a dance, bring the family or just stop by and see what is happening. 12pm to 7pm.

Yiddish Culture Weekend 2026 | 📍Bloomsbury, King’s Cross & beyond | 28 to 30 August | Free + paid events
This is a whole weekend for getting to know Yiddish culture by actually taking part in it. Yiddish is a language historically spoken by many Ashkenazi Jewish communities, with its own music, stories, humour, poetry and traditions. Across the weekend you can learn a traditional dance from scratch, join a Yiddish singalong, listen to klezmer musicians, hear poetry read in Yiddish and English, browse old newspapers and postcards from Jewish London, or sit down for a screening of the 1937 film The Dybbuk. Sunday is the big day at SOAS, with workshops and performances running from 10am to 7pm, and complete beginners are very much welcome. Some events are completely free, while paid passes and sessions start from £15.

Kidz World Wristband Fair | 📍Victoria Park, Finchley, N3 | 19 August - 4 September | Free entry
This one works a little differently from the usual funfair where every ride means buying another token. At Kidz World, you can pay £14.99 for a wristband and spend one whole session going back on the rides as many times as you want, or just buy tokens if you are only planning a couple. The fair has taken over part of Victoria Park for the summer holidays, with children’s rides, inflatables, adult dodgems and bigger rides including Disco Fever. There are two sessions each day, 12pm to 4pm and 4pm to 7.45pm. On Wednesdays, there is also a free Punch & Judy show from 3pm. Entry to the fair itself is free.

Speaker Box Street Party | 📍Wembley Park, HA9 | 29 August | Free
Wembley Park turns into one big dance floor for an afternoon of Latin, Caribbean, Afro and Bollywood music, with DJs and easy follow-along sessions between each set. The day ends with a Michael Jackson birthday celebration and a final group dance. Browse the summer market nearby, then join in or simply watch from the side. No booking needed. 12pm to 5pm.

Manorfest 2026 | 📍New River Studios, Manor House, N4 | 29 & 30 August | (£)
A car park behind New River Studios is becoming a two day Bank Holiday festival, and each day has a completely different feel. Saturday is the louder one, with live bands including Eel Men, Snub, Morreadoras and EZ8, plus DJs, art, performances, food and a bar before the party moves inside New River Studios until 1am. Sunday slows things right down with Ambient Car Park, an afternoon of gentler, more meditative DJs and live performances from artists including Agate, Dave Webb and UKAEA, followed by another indoor afterparty. Saturday runs 2pm to 10pm, Sunday 12pm to 8pm.



Bi Pride 2026 | 📍Kings Place, King’s Cross, N1 | 29 August | Free
Bi Pride brings the UK’s Bi+ community together at Kings Place for a full day of performances, conversations and meeting people. It is for people who experience attraction to more than one gender or identify somewhere under the Bi+ umbrella, with friends and allies welcome too. There are two stages to dip between, with live music, drag and performances on one, and conversations about relationships, family, identity, activism and Bi+ life on the other. Jordan Gray and Shaaba are among this year’s headliners, and there will also be stalls from LGBTQ+ groups, charities and small businesses. A sensory room, remembrance space and multi faith prayer room are available too. 2pm to 10pm. Free, but you need to register for a ticket.

Uren and Upwards: Hornsey Town Hall and Its History | 📍Hornsey Town Hall, N8 | 29 August | (£)
Go behind the doors of Hornsey Town Hall and see the rooms where local politics, public life and music once played out. The 90 minute tour takes in the council chamber, mayor’s parlour, assembly hall and the building’s modernist details, with stories of The Kinks, Queen and the films and TV shows shot here. Starts at 2pm.

Natural Aspect Summer Concert | 📍Parliament Hill Bandstand, Hampstead Heath | 30 August | Free
Bring a picnic and settle in for an afternoon of live music on the Heath. The bandstand will move through soul, jazz, reggae, ska and rock, with sets from John Etheridge and Vimala Rowe, The Bohème Hot Club and Peace & Love. There will also be circus skills, children’s activities, food, pizza, ice cream and plenty of room to dance. 1pm to 5pm.

Click below to see full weekend list.👇

I've worked at Notting Hill Carnival and been going regularly for many years. Every single time, I watch the same stories unfold. Someone absolutely wasted, sitting on the side of the street. People crying because their feet are destroyed in the wrong shoes. Groups getting separated because they thought 'by the sound system' was a meeting point.

You don't have to be one of these stories. These aren't just suggestions, they're commandments. Break them at your own peril.

Opening or launching something? Noticed a change in your neighbourhood? Got a local story, observation or point of view worth sharing? Reply to this email. A photo, link or a few lines is plenty.

Upcoming events you should consider booking in advance or planning ahead for. In and out of North London. Events marked with (£) require a ticket in advance.

Mario Kart Night by Friday Knights | 📍K.C. Continental Stores, N1 | 1st September | (£)
Mario Kart is Nintendo’s racing game where winning can disappear in seconds thanks to banana skins, shells and one badly timed lightning bolt. Friday Knights turns that chaos into a 32 person tournament at K.C. Continental Stores, with racers going head to head through a knockout bracket until one person takes the trophy and bragging rights. You do not need to be especially good to join, all skill levels are welcomed.

Queen’s Park Book Festival | 📍Queen’s Park, NW6 | 5 & 6 September | (£)
After nine years, Queen’s Park Book Festival is bowing out with one final weekend in the park. Across two days, authors, journalists, chefs and thinkers take to the stages for conversations about books, food, politics and culture, with this year’s line up including Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman, Sathnam Sanghera, Sebastian Barry, Theo Randall and Honey & Co. The Community Tent stays free and gives space to local writers, young poets and emerging voices, so you can mix the bigger names with something completely new.

The Screen’s a Stage: Showmanship and Early Film in the West End | 📍The London Archives, Clerkenwell, EC1R | 14 September | (£)
Before London had cinemas, nobody quite knew what moving pictures were supposed to be used for. West End theatres started experimenting, projecting film into live shows and finding new ways to mix actors on stage with this strange new technology, while officials worried the highly flammable reels might burn the theatre district down. Researcher Alex Kirstukas digs into that messy early period using old photographs, archive records and film clips, including some of the more unusual experiments that happened before “going to the cinema” became normal.