Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🔥 A new Turkish-Cypriot grill is opening in Palmers Green, and the chef wants you to eat well for under £25: Chef Hasan Semay, known as Big Has, is opening his first ever restaurant, Liman, on Green Lanes. He grew up in Edmonton and is doing it with his uncle and cousin. The kitchen is built around a coal-fired grill, with whole grilled seabass, lamb shish, sheftalia sausage and fresh pitta, plus glass-battered calamari and Cypriot chips with oregano salt. Bring your own drinks. His pitch is somewhere people can “come down in their tracksuit” and eat really well for less than £25.

🚲 Santander Cycles shut for four days from tomorrow: London’s hire bikes are off from tomorrow evening (Friday) until Tuesday evening. That includes Monday’s commute. TfL is launching a new app. The old one stops working, and TfL says to download the new one before then. You’ll unlock bikes with a QR code and can pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Once it’s live, anyone without a monthly or annual pass gets a free ride with the code NEWAPP.

🎳 Rowans Bowling Alley taken off Haringey’s development list: Thousands of people visit Rowans, the bowling alley on Stroud Green Road in Finsbury Park. Haringey Council’s new plan for the borough had marked it as a site that could be redeveloped. The council says it has taken it off after hearing from residents, businesses and community groups. It’s not finalised yet, full Council votes on the plan on 23 November.

🚇 Eight Tube strikes announced, starting 26 November: Yes you read that correctly, 8 tubes strikes. The first one is two weeks today. Each strike starts at midday and lasts 24 hours. The dates: 26 November, 17 and 19 December, 4 and 6 January, then 17, 23 and 25 February. It’s a dispute over a new four-day week for drivers. The RMT union says it would mean longer shifts and earlier starts. London Underground says it’s optional and drivers can stay on five days. London Underground hasn’t said yet how many trains will run. Elizabeth line, DLR and Overground staff aren’t part of the strike. Delays may start before midday and carry on after the strike ends.

For years, Finchley Lakeside has been a private site. This weekend, people can finally go inside.

Across five floors, Light + Flight is a free festival shaped with artists, residents and community groups from across Barnet. There’ll be art, music, film, workshops, food and local makers.

At sunset, the five storey atrium will be transformed by Ascendance, a large scale projection and sound installation created with more than 140 Barnet residents, featuring giant video portraits, stories of migration, local birdsong and an original score.

A former swimming pool will become a cinema, while live music and hands on workshops take place throughout the building.

Light + Flight Festival | 📍 Finchley Lakeside, Squires Lane, N3 2QT | 14-15
November

Booking is encouraged, but walk ups are welcome. Also It can get chilly inside, so bring a warm coat or extra layers.

Can’t make it this weekend? Finchley Lakeside reopens as a pop up gallery from 18 to 22 November, where you can see Ascendance and explore the festival exhibitions. Booking is required for the gallery. Light + Flight then continues on 21 and 22 November with more events at the RAF Museum and artsdepot.

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Being Human Festival 2026 | 📍Multiple venues across London | Until 14 November | Free
Being Human is the UK’s national festival of the humanities, where university researchers take their work out of academia and into the public through free talks, walks, workshops, installations and exhibitions. This year’s theme is Crossroads. This is the final weekend, with events across London including at Lethaby Gallery in King’s Cross. Most are free, some require booking.

Book Crawl & Swap with Wholesome London | 📍Starting at GAIL’s Finsbury Park, N4 | 14 November | Free
A book crawl is exactly what it says on the tin — a pub crawl, but for bookshops. Girls Who Walk London and Wholesome Girls Club are doing one through North London this Saturday, starting at GAIL’s in Finsbury Park, along the Parkland Trail and through Waterstones, House of Books and Oxfam, ending at the Good Readers Pub. Bring a book you love and swap it for someone else’s along the way. 11am to 1pm, everyone is welcome.

Crouch End Vintage Furniture & Flea Market | 📍Hornsey Town Hall, N8 | 15 November | (£)
Judy’s, who run North London’s regular flea markets, bring their vintage furniture edition to Hornsey Town Hall. Mid-century furniture, lighting, mirrors, ceramics and glassware, plus some vintage fashion and jewellery. Early entry from 10.30am (£4 online, £5 on the door), free from 3pm. Under 16s free, dogs welcome.

London Gaming Market | 📍Royal National Hotel, WC1H | 15 November | (£)
Now in its 11th year, the London Gaming Market is the only dedicated gaming market in London, a large hotel ballroom filled with sellers of retro games, consoles, imports, merchandise and artwork. The earlier you arrive, the more you pay: £9 from 10.30am, £6 from 12pm or 1.30pm, £4 walk-in from 3pm with under 16s free. Closes 4.30pm.

When I Have Fears: The Spooky and Sublime John Keats | 📍Keats House, Hampstead, NW3 | 14 November | (£)
Keats House is the Hampstead cottage where John Keats wrote some of his most celebrated poems, and this Saturday it’s hosting an afternoon of readings exploring his darker side. Poets Julia Bird and Mike Sims read from La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Isabella, or the Pot of Basil, and the witches and elves lurking in the corners of his work. Tea and cake included. 3pm to 4.30pm

Camden Town Vintage Bus Running Day | 📍Warren Street to Wood Green via Camden | 15 November | Free
The London Omnibus Traction Society runs vintage buses through North London a few times a year, and this Sunday two routes are on. Route 24 runs between Warren Street and Hampstead Heath, route 29 between Wood Green and Mornington Crescent, both via Camden Town. Free to ride, programmes on sale near Camden Town stops with full timetables and vehicle listings, proceeds to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and BBC Children in Need. Last buses around 4pm.

Afrobeats Brunch at Soul Mama | 📍Soul Mama, N1 | 14 November | (£)
Part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Koyesax and The Fortune Collective Band play live Afrobeats at Soul Mama in Islington, moving between old-school legends like Fela Kuti and Lagbaja and modern hits from Davido, Wizkid and Rema. Soul Mama’s menu draws from African, Caribbean and South American cooking. Doors noon, music from 1pm, runs until 4pm.

Springfield Cabaret: Simpsons Drag Tribute | 📍The Divine, N16 | 15 November | (£)
An unofficial, unauthorised drag tribute to The Simpsons at The Divine in Stoke Newington. Host Ash Bestos, winner of Yshee Black’s Big B*stard Competition, leads a lineup of rising London drag stars through lip-syncs, comedy, games and drama from the longest-running animated sitcom of all time. £9.99 general admission, £12.99 includes a donation to the performers and sweets on the door. Doors 7pm, show 8pm sharp. Note: the cabaret space is in the basement, 17 steps down with no lift.



Crafty Fox Christmas Market at the British Library | 📍British Library, NW1 | 14 - 15 November | Free
Same Crafty Fox, different venue. This one is inside the British Library, 40 independent makers each day selling jewellery, ceramics, fashion, art prints and homeware, with Origin Coffee on site and the British Library shop’s bookish finds alongside. Worth combining with the new Agatha Christie exhibition if you haven’t booked that yet. Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm.


Country Club: Indoor Country Music Festival | 📍BOXPARK Wembley, HA9 | 14 November | (£)
Saddle up. The UK’s biggest country music day party rides into BOXPARK Wembley this Saturday. Non-stop hits from Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Shania Twain and more, line dancing, cowboy hat giveaways and wild west décor. 3pm to 10pm..

Feel Good Fiction Fair | 📍The Southgate Club, N14 | 15 November | (£)
North London Samaritans’ first ever fiction fair, every guest leaves with a free book, and all proceeds go to the charity. Guest authors include Dhonielle Clayton, Talia Hibbert and Tasneem Abdur Rashid, with panels at 12.30pm and 1.15pm followed by signings. Crafts, candle painting, a book swap and a bookshop stall running throughout. 11am to 6pm.

UK Jewish Film Festival 2026 | 📍Multiple venues across London | Until 15 November | (Free/£)
This is the last weekend of the UK Jewish Film Festival, the largest Jewish film festival in the world. Screenings across London including the Phoenix in East Finchley, JW3 and Everyman Belsize Park, with Q&As after many films. Short films free to watch online. Full programme at their website.


Bloomsbury Jamboree | 📍The Art Workers’ Guild, Bloomsbury, WC1N | 14 - 15 November | (£)
Independent exhibitors selling illustration, books, prints, ceramics, jewellery, folk art and fairtrade food inside the historic Art Workers’ Guild, plus a programme of illustrated talks. An annual fixture run by Ink Paper + Print.



Hug Piece | 📍Camden People’s Theatre, NW1 | 13 - 14 November | (£)
A participatory performance from Carla Ng and Team Hug built around one simple act: hugging a room full of strangers. Part dance, part shared ritual, it moves from the Big Bang to the world’s largest hug ceremony while asking what actually happens when we hold each other. Real hugs only, no sex, no kissing. 60 minutes, wheelchair accessible, contains audience participation and a description of a hate crime (16+). £12 to £18, 9pm both nights.

Clissold Park Car Boot Sale | 📍Clissold Park, N16 | 15 November | (£)
The last Clissold car boot of the year. Same as ever: sellers straight from their cars, the usual mix of clothes, books, records, homeware and things you didn’t know you needed. Get there early for the good stuff.

That's just a taste of what's happening this weekend. 👇

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.

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.

Wembley Park Antiques & Vintage Market | 📍Wembley Park, HA9 | 29 November | Free
Wembley Park Antiques & Vintage Market brings more than 300 antiques and vintage dealers together for one Sunday, run by the organiser behind the Alexandra Palace antiques fair. Some sell from tables, some straight from their vans, and it’s the kind of market where you go for one thing and leave with three. Public entry is free when you book online by Sunday 15 November with code GETINFORFREE.


Oracle Comedy | 📍The Owl & Hitchhiker, N7 | 25 November | (£)
A new monthly comedy night launching at The Owl & Hitchhiker on Holloway Road, a pub rather than a comedy club, which keeps the whole thing cheap and casual. Headliner plus support acts, tickets £6, pints £6, and a raffle on the night with a free tarot reading as one of the prizes.

LDN COP | 📍Old Odeon, Parkway, NW1 | 28 November | Free
COP is the UN’s annual climate summit, where world leaders and fossil fuel lobbyists meet to negotiate on the climate crisis. While this year’s COP31 happens in Türkiye, the Camden New Journal and Islington Tribune are running their own version inside Camden’s old Odeon cinema, now closed and empty. Panel talks and documentaries in the main screen, stalls from local climate groups, art and a kilo sale (clothes sold by weight rather than price tag) in the atrium. Confirmed speakers include Chris Packham and Dale Vince, with Mayor Sadiq Khan also said to be attending. Free entry, 11am to 6pm.