Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🌬️ Camden has the most polluted neighbourhood in the entire country: apparently parts of Holborn, St Giles and Covent Garden have the worst air quality in the entire country. Residents there are breathing pollution levels four times higher than what's considered safe. New research says cleaning up London's air could prevent 44,000 premature deaths and add £2.2bn to the economy by 2050. London stands to benefit more than anywhere else in the UK because its air is already so much dirtier than other cities.

🎨 Sarabande Foundation opens 14 new artist studios in Tottenham: the arts charity set up by the late Alexander McQueen has taken over two Grade II listed Georgian townhouses on Tottenham High Road near the stadium. 14 studios for painters, sculptors, photographers, fashion designers. New public gallery and café too.

For the launch, British-Zimbabwean artist Siphiwe-Nokukhanya Mnguni painted her largest mural yet live on the day. Her work explores the Black female figure, identity and womanhood.

🌿 Free climate festival coming to Camden Town 26 September: Camden Inspire is back for its fifth year. Free community day with talks, workshops, food and family activities all around climate and the environment.

🌉 Brent Council spending £138,000 painting Alperton station bridge: Brent Council commissioned artists to paint the railway bridge next to Alperton Underground Station. Design developed with two local schools. Work started 13 July, finishing 12 September. Overnight works causing partial Ealing Road closure. Local Lib Dem councillor Anton Georgiou calls it "a staggering waste" saying money should go on fixing roads and tackling antisocial behaviour instead. Council says the money comes from a government regeneration fund that can only be spent on projects like this, not on road repairs or street cleaning.

🚌 TfL proposing to scrap the 67 bus and change the 149 route: the 67 bus (Wood Green to Stamford Hill) would be cancelled. The 149 would then cover that stretch instead, but starting from Wood Green rather than Edmonton Green.If you currently travel on the 149 between Edmonton Green and London Bridge you'd need to change buses. On the plus side the 149 would create new direct links between Wood Green and Liverpool Street via Hoxton and Shoreditch.

If you'd told me I'd spend a Friday night in a church listening to music written two centuries ago, I'd have said you were lying.

But last week, that's exactly what I did.

The opening concert of the Islington Festival of Music and Art, sixth year running, in St Mary's on Upper Street. A church that has stood a thousand years and was rebuilt after a wartime bomb. Music about love and loss, none of which I knew.

But I felt every note.

The festival ends this Sunday.

The Flower Factory x Robert Hunter: Ceramics & Ikebana | 📍The Flower Factory, N1 | Until 2 August | Free
Ceramicist Robert Hunter is holding his first London pop-up, and the flowers are part of the work. His handmade bowls, tableware and larger vessels will be paired with ikebana arrangements created around their shape, colour and texture, so each piece changes once the flowers are added. Drop in over the weekend, or come at 11am on Saturday for a free ikebana demonstration. Preview Friday 6pm to 8pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 3pm.

Indo-Japanese Supper Club | 📍Cool Carrot, N6 | 2 August | (£) 
Two chefs, best friends, cook a five-course meal that folds their two childhood cuisines into one: Japanese and Indian on the same plate. Watermelon with tamarind chutney, cold somen noodles, tiger prawns in coconut and turmeric with hoppers, then a rasmalai made with mochi. You eat at long shared tables, so you turn up not knowing anyone and leave having eaten with strangers. From 6pm.




Roundhouse Comedy Festival | 📍Roundhouse, NW1 | 1 to 18 August | (£)
Eighteen days of stand up, live podcasts and big names taking over the Roundhouse. Joe Lycett, Katherine Ryan, Ed Gamble, Sara Pascoe and Sam Campbell are among the headliners, alongside newer acts and solo shows from Kristen Schaal and Jack Rooke. Hundreds of tickets are available for £5 if you are 30 or under, making this a good time to take a chance on someone you have never seen before.

Kilburn High Road Festival | 📍Kilburn High Road, NW6 | 31 July - 15 August | Free
Sixteen days of free performances, music and exhibitions along Kilburn High Road, made by and for the people who live here. Highlights include Passages, a promenade walk drawing on 95 real stories of Kilburn nights out; Reel Kilburn, an evening of local film history; and the Kilburn House Band playing live at Kilburn Market. Presented by Kiln Theatre.

Community Orchard Picnic | 📍Broomfield Park, N13 | 2 August | Free
Pack a picnic and sit among the apple trees while local musicians play folk, blues and mellow summer tunes. That Blue Patch, The Reprobates, Oscar Schaffer and Harriet Howarth are on the bill, with refreshments and a tug of war too. This is the rescheduled date after the earlier picnic was postponed. 1pm to 5pm.

100 People Do Nothing for 3 Hours | 📍Secret London location | 2 August | Free, donations welcome
What happens when 100 people put their phones away and stop trying to fill every second? This social experiment asks you to spend three hours in silence with nothing to read, watch, complete or achieve. You can sit, lie down, sleep, stretch or simply see where your mind goes when there is nothing demanding your attention. Bring water, a pillow, blanket and yoga mat. The address is shared after approval (hopefully its in North London), entry may not be guaranteed if the room fills up, and parts of the session will be filmed using wide shots and time lapses.

Secrets of The Simpsons | 📍Upstairs at The Gatehouse, Highgate, N6 | 2 August | (£)
How do you write thousands of jokes, win four Emmys and somehow keep predicting the future? Mike Reiss, who spent 36 years writing for The Simpsons, shares stories from inside the writers’ room, reveals how the jokes are built and explains what really went into some of the show’s most loved years. There is also a Q&A, so come armed with the Springfield question you have always wanted answered. 7pm to 9pm.



The Clocktower Festival | 📍Caledonian Park, N7 | 2 August | Free
Free community festival in Caledonian Park, under the Victorian clock tower the park's known for. Opera singer Mary Bevan sings with a string quartet in the woodland amphitheatre, and there's a bouncy castle, a climbing wall, a dog zone, food stalls and live music. 12pm to 6pm.



Tender Riot: Queer Makers Market | 📍The Common Press, N16 | 2 August | Pay what you can
The Common Press is holding its first queer makers market, with prints, zines, jewellery, badges, homeware and self-published books from LGBTQ+ artists and small businesses. Browse from 12pm to 5pm, then stay for the DJ set and social from 6pm. Entry is pay what you can.



Indo-Japanese Supper Club | 📍Cool Carrot, N6 | 2 August | (£) 
Two chefs, best friends, cook a five-course meal that folds their two childhood cuisines into one: Japanese and Indian on the same plate. Watermelon with tamarind chutney, cold somen noodles, tiger prawns in coconut and turmeric with hoppers, then a rasmalai made with mochi. You eat at long shared tables, so you turn up not knowing anyone and leave having eaten with strangers. From 6pm.

Ghana Party in the Park 2026: ShattaFestUK | 📍Copthall Playing Fields, NW4 | 1 August | (£)
Think of this as a nine-hour outdoor celebration of Ghanaian music and culture, rather than a standard concert. Shatta Wale is on the line-up, but the day is built around the wider festival, not one headline performance. Advance tickets start at £30, under-11s enter free before 4pm with a paying adult, and there is no re-entry once you leave. 12pm to 9pm.

Tuff Nutterz | 📍Priory Park, N8 | Until 3 August | (£)
This is not your typical bouncy castle tucked into the corner of the park. This is a 300 metre inflatable course with 30 obstacles is taking over Priory Park. It has huge slides, climbing walls, hanging rails and balance balls to get across. Each session gives you one hour and 45 minutes on the course, and adults can have a go too. Under fives need an adult with them, while ages five and over can take it on alone. Tickets from £15. Grip socks required.

Click below to see full weekend list.👇

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.

Queer Art & French Wine | 📍BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! Gallery Café, W1T | 6 August | (£)
See photographer Aldo del Bo’s work, meet the artist and spend the evening over French wine with a crowd of queer people and allies. Your first glass is included, with prints and merchandise available to buy. Tickets also include a guest list entry to Heaven later that night. 6pm to 9pm. Ages 21+.

Highgate Wood Bat Watch Walk | 📍Highgate Wood, N10 | 25 August | (£)
Bats are easy to miss because they come out as the light fades and communicate at frequencies humans cannot hear. On this guided dusk walk, you will use a bat detector to turn their calls into audible clicks, helping you work out when one is flying nearby. You will also learn what species live in the wood, what they eat and how they find their way in the dark. Meet at the information hut by the café. 7.30pm to 9pm.