Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🥧 Iconic pie and mash shop reopened on Chapel Market: M Manze on Chapel Market opened in 1911, served traditional cockney pie and mash for over 100 years before closing in 2019. Now reopened as No.74 Chapel Market by Martin Savage and John Gordon. Classic pie and mash plus an Irish twist from the new owners.

💰 Got a creative project idea in Haringey? Grants from £700 to £40,000 available: Applications open now, deadline 30 June. For local artists, collectives and community groups. Decisions made by a resident panel.

🏃 London Marathon going two days in 2027: Record 1.3 million people applied for next year's race so organisers expanding to two days, 24 and 25 April 2027. 100,000 runners across both days. Expected to raise over £150 million for charity.

🔵 Hampstead named second best Tube station for blue plaques: 68 blue plaques within walking distance of Hampstead station. Only beaten by South Kensington (72)

Kite Festival at Parliament Hill | 📍Parliament Hill Fields, NW5 | 28 June | Free
The Kite Society of Great Britain fills the sky above Kite Hill on Hampstead Heath for an afternoon. Kite making and children's activities from Well Walk Theatre, Mini Mozart and Sally's Adventure Club. Noon to 4pm.

Ceramicists' Mart | 📍Abney Hall, N16 | 27 - 28 June | Free
Over 60 ceramic artists and potters on Stoke Newington Church Street. Handmade bowls, mugs, platters, plant pots, jewellery and sculpture. Worth taking your time over and chatting to the makers. Pierogi from Pierogi Queen and seasonal teas from Quarter Cup Tea Co on site. 11am to 5pm both days.

Free Live Screenprinting with Dave Buonaguidi | 📍Jealous Warehouse, N17 | 27 June | Free
Ever wondered where your prints get framed? Jealous Gallery opens its Tottenham warehouse for a free afternoon behind the scenes. Watch artists Dave Buonaguidi, Jess Wilson and Bench Allen screenprinting live, pull a print to take home and grab a free drink from Two Tribes Brewery. No booking needed, dogs welcome. Noon to 4pm.

Camdenwalla | 📍Camden People's Theatre, NW1 | Until 4 July | (£)
New play based on true stories from the Camden Monitoring Project, a volunteer group that organised against racist attacks in 1994. Set in the very building where it happened on Hampstead Road, the play follows a teenage girl and her uncle through one night of phone calls as an attack looms. Tickets £12 to £18. Evenings at 7.15pm, Saturday matinees at 3pm.


GROW Farm Open Day | 📍GROW Farm, N20 | 27 June | (£)
GROW is a community farm in Barnet that teaches agroecology. Farm tours, pick-your-own flowers, fresh produce, food, music and kids activities. Money spent supports the charity. Solidarity pricing and free tickets available for those who need them. 10am to 3pm.


Broomfield Park Conservatory Plant Sale | 📍Broomfield Park, N13 | 28 June | Free
Plants grown by the conservatory volunteers at Broomfield Park, sold to raise funds for the conservatory's upkeep. Cuttings taken from the conservatory's own collection, grown on and priced to sell. Cash only. 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

Kilburn Grange Park Funfair | 📍Kilburn Grange Park, NW6 | Until 28 June | (£)
A funfair in Kilburn Grange Park over two weekends. Rides for all ages, £2 entry. Both Fridays are half price, and booking tokens online before noon saves 20% on other days. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, 10am to 5pm.

Lucinda's Magpie Sale | 📍Cherry Tree Cafe, N2 | 27 June | Free
Lucinda's preloved clothing sale is back at Cherry Tree Cafe in Cherry Tree Wood. Some locals say her collection is seriously good but I'll let you decide. 9.30am to 4pm.

Muswell Hill Creatives Summer Makers Fair | 📍St James Square, N10 | 27 June | Free
Muswell Hill Creatives has been running outdoor makers fairs in the square opposite the Everyman Cinema since 2015. Local artists and makers selling jewellery, ceramics, prints, textiles and homewares. Come and meet them in person. 10.30am to 5pm.


Proms at St Jude's Music and Literary Festival | 📍Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11 | 27 June - 5 July | (£)
Nine nights of evening concerts in Hampstead Garden Suburb, running since 1993. Highlights include Wolf Hall in Concert with Debbie Wiseman and BAFTA-nominated Anton Lesser, the Van Morrison Alumni Band, and Lizzie Ball and James Pearson's jazz celebration fresh from a sell-out at Ronnie Scott's. Free lunchtime concerts, a literary weekend and late night comedy too. Surplus funds go to Toynbee Hall and North London Hospice.


A Midsummer Night's Dream | 📍Broomfield Park, N13 & Downhills Park, N17 | 27 - 28 June | Free
Free outdoor Shakespeare in two North London parks this weekend. Fairies, love potions and chaos in an enchanted forest, performed with high energy, slapstick and audience participation by East London Shakespeare Festival. Broomfield Park on Saturday 27 June, Downhills Park, Tottenham on Sunday 28 June at 3pm. Bring a picnic and your own seating.


Highgate Artisan Market | 📍Lauderdale House, N6 | 28 June | Free
Sunday market in the grounds of Lauderdale House, a 15th century manor at the edge of Waterlow Park in Highgate. Ethical and sustainable small businesses with art, jewellery, pottery, homewares and artisan food. Cafe on site. Free parking, dogs on leads welcome. 11am to 5pm.

East Finchley Open Artists: Open House Weekends | 📍Various venues, N2/N10 | 27 - 28 June and 4 - 5 July | Free
Eleven homes across East Finchley, Central Finchley and Muswell Hill transformed into galleries for two weekends. Walk in, meet the artists, buy directly. Group exhibition at All Saints Church is the suggested starting point. Noon to 6pm both weekends.

Protest and Recognition in Queer Islington | 📍Union Chapel, N1 | 27 June | Free
Pride Month party at Union Chapel's Sunday School Hall in Islington, built around an exhibition exploring LGBTQIA+ activism, visibility and heritage in the borough. Work from Del LaGrace Volcano, Alice Kilroy and others, plus art co-produced with Say It Loud Club. Comedy from Lorna Rose Treen and folk from Sophie Crawford. Book a free ticket in advance. 5pm to 9pm.


Bounds Green Gin & Rum Festival | 📍Pymmes Mews, N13 | 27 June | Free
Old Bakery Gin opens its Bounds Green distillery for a one-day gin and rum festival. Cocktails made with small-batch London dry gin from a distillery that supplies Buckingham Palace and the House of Lords. Just turn up. 11am to 11pm.


Nika Kutateladze: Lili | 📍The Blue Lion, WC1X | Until 25 July | Free
New paintings in the back room of a Bloomsbury pub by Georgian artist Nika Kutateladze. The work explores a village in rural Georgia slowly emptied of women through emigration, told through portraits of the men left behind, abandoned houses and ghostlike figures. Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm. Walk-ins welcome.

Torriano Poetry Karaoke | 📍Torriano Meeting House, NW5 | 28 June | (£)
Pick a poem you love, no not one of yours, but someone else's. Read it to the room and tell everyone why. That's the whole idea behind this new poetry night at Torriano Meeting House in Kentish Town. Whether you read poetry every day or have never read out loud before, it's for you. £6 on the door. 7.30pm.

Myddleton Road Art & Ceramics Sale | 📍Shaftesbury Hall, N11 | 27 June | Free
Local artists and makers at Shaftesbury Hall in Bounds Green, just next to Bowes Park station. Textile art, ceramics, prints, linocut and more from ten makers including MORPH, GK Crafts and NB Prints. Noon to 4pm.

Eye Feast | 📍Regent's Park Gallery, NW1 | Until 27 June | Free
One hundred artworks by fifty artists celebrating food and drink, at a gallery in a former restaurant in Primrose Hill. Friday noon to 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm.

Catch them while you can.

Seven Sisters Market Community Summer Festival | 📍Seven Sisters Market, N15 | Until 28 June | Free
The grand finale of the two-week fiesta at the Latin quarter of Tottenham, with Bad Bunny playing up the road at the Stadium. Two days of DJs, dance battles, a merengue battle, make-up and creative stations and a cultural installation celebrating the community. Saturday 27 June from 1pm, Sunday 28 June from 1pm to 4pm.

Amwell 200 | 📍Various venues, EC1 | Final weekend: 27 - 28 June | (£) Amwell is a quiet Georgian neighbourhood in Clerkenwell that describes itself as a village within the vast city. This ten-day festival marking 200 years of the area's history closes this weekend. Saturday 27 June: a trio of talks on radical Amwell history at the Marx Memorial Library from 2pm. Sunday 28 June: a midsummer picnic in Wilmington Square Gardens from 1.30pm to 5pm.


David Bowie: You're Not Alone | 📍Lightroom, N1C | Until 28 June | (£) Lightroom's Bowie show closes this Sunday. Walk through rare archive material from New York with Bowie's own voice as your guide, his thoughts on creativity, spirituality and theatricality filling a 360 degree space with spatial audio.

Hampstead Summer Festival 2026 | 📍Keats House and Heath Street, NW3 | 21 June - 5 July | Free/(£)
The hampstead summer festival continues and this weekend, the Family Garden Party takes over the Keats House garden from 2pm to 5pm. Birds of prey, ballet, a magic show, Mystical Fairies, face painting, rhyme time, giant chess and a wine bar for the adults. Free admission. Coming up: the Big Fair on Heath Street on 5 July with 110 stalls, a funfair and live music. All proceeds to Hampstead School of Art and Keats Community Library.

London Pride is the day before, but if big crowds aren't your thing, Bowes Park has its own. Myddleton Road closes to traffic for a neighbourhood Pride celebration with live music, performances, food stalls and local businesses. Relaxed, family friendly and rooted in the local community. 12pm to 6pm.

Once a year, they close Caledonian Road and 7,000 people throw a party in it. Music, performance, art, workshops, street food and a market. 12pm to 6pm.

A one-day music and comedy festival in Alexandra Palace Park with views across London. Rudimental headline, with Groove Armada (DJ set), MJ Cole, Black Grape, Roni Size and The Amy Winehouse Band. Russell Kane leads the comedy. Multiple stages, immersive experiences under the Palace, and a family area. Gates open 1pm. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult over 21.

Three days of talks, comedy and loafing in the garden of a 17th century Hampstead mansion. Prue Leith, Irvine Welsh, Rowan Williams and more, plus Chris Difford on the stories behind Squeeze songs and Esther Freud on writing her family as fiction. Orchard bar, mezze from Moro chefs, dancing lessons and plenty of time under the apple trees.

Mela means gathering, and this one has been bringing communities together in London since 1992. Live music and dance, food stalls, arts and crafts, funfair rides and family activities at Coram's Fields in Bloomsbury. Noon to 6pm.

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.

This started as garden concerts during lockdown in 2020 and has since grown into a ten-day festival across Islington. Yoga with a harp, swing dancing at the Angel piazza, Sidney Bechet-inspired jazz, and Edward Elgar meets Oscar Wilde. The theme this year is music inspired by literature, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy and Dante to Wilde. Intimate venues throughout the borough including Little Angel Theatre, Old Sessions House and Christ Church Highbury.