🚀 Worth a trip south of the river this weekend!

I know it’s outside Camden, but Creative Intelligence is featuring at the Southbank Centre this weekend (Fri 11 – Sun 13) with a three-day takeover packed with art, performance, music, free demos, debate, play and experimentation with a mix of free & ticketed events 🎟 (plenty of free drop-in installations and workshops across the weekend if you just want to wander around!)

www.southbankcentre.co.ukCreative Intelligence | Southbank Centre

As official media partners, Camdenist has heard from some great voices ahead of the annual HowTheLightGetsIn festival for many years. So who from this year's distinguished crop of speakers appearing at the event 19th-20th Sept would you love to helm an upcoming edition of our newsletter?

https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/london/big-ideas/speakers/2026

howthelightgetsin.orgSpeakers » HowTheLightGetsIn london

Camden Road's new coffee and matcha shop Allpressed Up are hosting a free event with music from DJ TMK, the Muslim primary school teacher and turntable queen from 11am-1pm on Sun 30th Aug.

First 10 custonmer on the day get a free Allpressed Up tote bag with their coffee/matcha. Go!

InstagramALLPRESSED UP. on Instagram: "☕️🎶 SUNDAY JUST GOT A LITTLE BETTER. @dj.tmk is taking over Allpressed Up. for a Sunday morning set 🎧 And because we like to spoil the early birds… 👀 FIRST 10 CUSTOMERS GET A FREE ALLPRESSED UP. TOTE BAG All you have to do is grab a coffee or matcha. Easy. 📅 Sunday 30th August ⏰ 11AM–1PM 📍 Allpressed Up. Camden 🎧 @dj.tmk 🎟️ FREE ENTRY Good coffee. Good matcha. Good music. See you Sunday? 👀☕️🍵 #sundayvibes #dj #london #cafe #camden"42 likes, 9 comments - allpressed.up on August 21, 2026: "☕️🎶 SUNDAY JUST GOT A LITTLE BETTER. @dj.tmk is taking over Allpressed Up. for a Sunday morning set 🎧 And because we like to spoil the early birds… 👀 FIRST 10 CUSTOMERS GET A FREE ALLPRESSED UP. TOTE BAG All you have to do is grab a coffee or matcha. Easy. 📅 Sunday 30th August ⏰ 11AM–1PM 📍 Allpressed Up. Camden 🎧 @dj.tmk 🎟️ FREE ENTRY Good coffee. Good matcha. Good music. See you Sunday? 👀☕️🍵 #sundayvibes #dj #london #cafe #camden".

Hi Tom and neighbours, I’m Jez and a regular reader of Camdenist, which I find insightful and informative. I’ve been a regular visitor to Camden for many years, and have worked there for a good number of those.

I’m still living in North London, so Camden is my stop for live music, canal walks, shopping and tasty food from the market.

As mentioned in the newsletter this week, I’d like to be entered into the draw for tickets to the HowTheLightGetsIn festival that’s returning to Kenwood 19th-20th Sept. Looks like a great lineup this year!

Hi, I'm Gary, a regular Camdenist reader who makes the most of choosing to live in this exciting city where I was born and bred. I live with my partner Rachel in the Inkerman Area of Kentish Town where there is a truly vibrant sense of local community. I used to travel annually to Hay for HTLGI festival but sadly no more, so keen to go to the Kenwood one this year if tickets are available.

Hi I'm Christelle, French and live in Gospel Oak and work in Camden. My son is born here and it's home outside of Franche Comté (where i am at the moment). I read the Camdenist every week. I used to live in Hackney and enjoy the fact that there is a Hackney equivalent. Oh and I'd love to be in the draw for the mind festival.

Hi everyone! So lovely to see you on this new platform.

I'm sharing details for the SPCA Community Festival: Celebrating 10 Years of Community Impact on Saturday 12 September, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Come along to enjoy entertainment, food, stalls, and family-friendly activities!

Also let us know if you're interested in hiring a stall or performing at the festival. Send a message here or email [email protected]!

Hello I'm the tour guide for www.thedarksideofcamden.uk

Hi! I'm Jamie. I confess I don't read the Camdenist that often but I like that it exists. I'm interested in local community-building so I'm always curious to see attempts to use online platforms as part of that.

My area, Chalk Farm, feels quite fragmented – apart from a few shops, there's very little that brings people together (no community centre, no green space, &c.), and it seems like a lot of us don't know each other.

If you know me from anywhere, it's most likely from my ten years of standing outside the Black Cap on the High Street, talking to people about the campaign to re-open the Cap. Which has now happened, so these days I don't stand outside it but sit inside it. 😁

Camdenist's 'sister' publication, The Wick, is having a bash to celebrate the publication of our latest print edition, just along the Overground line (nearest stop Homerton), at legendary reborn boozer, The Gun.

Community members are very welcome to come along and join me for a drink - and you can also pick up a FREE hot-off-the-press copy of the new 32-page magazine too. It features a 7-page destination guide to Hackney's beloved Well Street Market, with the pub at its centre.

RSVP via the Luma link below and I look forward to seeing some of you out East next Friday....

luma.comThe Wick magazine: Well Street special edition launch party · LumaJoin The Wick magazine team for a drink to celebrate the launch of issue 21. This time around, we're 'travelling' a little, and throwing a party in Well…

Book a table for the 14th or 15th August after 4pm, and enjoy a glass of Cremant on arrival, to celebrate the launch weekend of the big new rooftop haunt atop Bloomsbury's revamped Imperial Hotel.

Arcus Bar & RestaurantArcus, Bloomsbury's Rooftop, LondonArcus is a 324-seat Bloomsbury bar and restaurant inspired by the weather—season-led menus, shifting light, and a space that evolves day to night.

There are 5 new drinks, all very suitable for hot weather and all priced at just £3 if you head over to Jamestown Road's STORRD convenience grocery and take-out spot right now...

InstagramSTORRD on Instagram: "5 new drinks - all £3… RUN DON’T WALK 🤤☕️🍵 #london #camden #londonmatcha #londoncoffee"31 likes, 3 comments - shopstorrd on August 5, 2026: "5 new drinks - all £3… RUN DON’T WALK 🤤☕️🍵 #london #camden #londonmatcha #londoncoffee".

If you enjoy good vibes, music and fun, then join me and others on Sunday 30 August from 1–5 PM for the much-loved Natural Aspect Summer Concert, a free live music event celebrating community and nature on Hampstead Heath.

It's held at the Parliament Hill Bandstand bringing together thousands for an afternoon of music, creativity, and summer joy. With a lively lineup featuring ska, rock, reggae, soul and jazz, plus workshops, and delicious food and drink—there’s something for everyone.

Ahhh, there was a time when I worked out of Camden Market a few years back when you could get a decent lunch downstairs for just over a fiver. Now, post-Covid and subsequent misguided global conflicts later, those very same items cost £12 and over, so getting a lunch plus a drink for a tenner at Boxpark is pretty good in 2026 - here are details of the various options (midday-5pm, Mon-Fri)

https://www.boxpark.co.uk/venues/camden/offers/meal-deal

www.boxpark.co.ukMeal Deals in Camden | £10 Lunch & Drink at BOXPARKEnjoy a meal and a soft drink for £10 at BOXPARK Camden

MeetupTEiP SUMMER CAMP • FREE RETREAT • THE HEATH | Thought Experiments in Public, Sun, Aug 23, 2026, 10:00 AM | Meetup**A free day retreat under the trees of Hampstead Heath, co-produced by our community.** **WHY:** Humans are naturally creative, naturally social, and naturally part of na

TEiP has become a thriving community because our events create opportunities for people to get straight into meaningful, imaginative, creative conversations.

We want to take that imagination and creativity to the next level.

We've met so many people with skills and ideas to share, and so many people up for trying new things.

So we're creating an opportunity for people to share and learn from one another in the same openminded, relaxed spirit as TEiP.

And we're doing it outside because it's Summer, we love nature, and our last outside.

Kentish Town's longstanding French bistro, Patron, are having an Oyster Day this Wed 5th Aug, with those bargain prices applying from opening at 6pm - booking early is advised. If you go, do let us know what it was like with a comment below...

https://patronrestaurant.com/

Patron French FirehousePatron French FirehouseFrench Firehouse in Kentish Town offering fine wines & boutique cocktails alongside France’s most iconic delicious dishes, small plates, cheeses & charcuterie. Atmosphere is romantic, vibrant & full of authentic French charm. Intimate bistro tables, stylish cocktail lounge, Parisian outd

Do you have a burning question you'd like to see put to the 8,000+ Camdenist readers in the weeks ahead?

The format is usually a 3 option answer: a Yes, No or Maybe.

All input welcome in the comments 👇🏼

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery London, in Covent Garden, is celebrating International Beer Day 2026 by offering the first 100 customers a free pint on Friday 7th Aug. They open from 11am, so you might need to call it 'early lunch'...

https://opengatelondon.guinness.com/en/international-beer-day-at-guinness-open-gate-brewery

opengatelondon.guinness.comInternational Beer Day at Guinness Open Gate Brewery London

Once we've reached a critical mass of enough people to have a nice little drink, plus everyone has got their summer holiday OOO's out of the way - so let's call it mid-September-ish, I'll invite you early adopters to an evening of drinks and scintillating local social interaction. But where should we hold the first one? Let me know your favourite spots for drinks and a chin wag (so not crazy loud or overly quiet) below. Go!