This weekend marks one of your last opportunities to enjoy some community-organised music and merriment in London this year, but never fear – people in the East, the South and the North are all catered for with three festivals across the capital.
From Friday 6 September to Monday 9 September, over in E17 it’s the music-focused Stow Festival which takes place at pubs, bars and cafes across the area – most of the gigs are free! On Saturday afternoon you can also check out the Walthamstow Acoustic Massive who will be taking over the town square (that area between Natwest and BHS), and there’s a musical tour of Walthamstow taking place at 2pm. You can follow their Twitter feed to keep up to date.
On Saturday afternoon from 12 until about 5:30, SW8 gets in on the action with the Stockwell Festival, which takes place at Larkhall Park. There are three spots when you can enjoy live entertainment – the main Stockwell Stage, the Community Performance Quarter where you can learn some drumming and zumba, and the Cabaret Tent (which is over 18s only so expect things to get a tiny bit saucy – there’s a burlesque workshop if you’re brave enough). Again they also have a Twitter feed to follow.
On Sunday the third annual Cally Festival arrives at Caledonian Park in N1 (regular readers will remember that it hosted the remarkable BABEL late last Spring). Again split across three stages – the Main Stage, a Youth Stage (based in an old Airstream trailer) and Story Street, which is an area set aside specifically for kids, there’s something for everyone. The Cally Festival also involves a street market which will offer everything from gourmet food to garden plants.
Whatever the weather there’s no excuse not to get out and about this weekend, unless you live in West London that is – but you guys had the Notting Hill Carnival recently so it’s only fair that the other points of the compass get in on the act, right?