The plant-based among us should probably look away now. This weekend sees not one but two ‘biggest of their kind in the UK’ food events happening around here, with both celebrating all things hot sauce-coated, fire-cooked and chicken-based, racking up a prodigious poultry body count in the process, topping a quarter of million birds. 😬🐔🐔

You’ll find the full details of London Wing Fest and UK Jerk Fest below, in you want to get involved in what must surely be the biggest BBQ cook-out and competitive food head-to-head weekender to be found anywhere this summer.

Meanwhile thisisthewick.com continues to fill the gaps between our print magazine (next one due in August - reach out now if you’d like any last-minute advertising deals [email protected] 😉), and these weekly newsletters, with new content going live throughout the week.

Below you’ll find this week’s crop of stories, including our review of the first show at the reborn Yard Theatre, a round-up of the best Pilates studios in the ‘hood (and there really are loads these days) plus, if you didn’t catch the story of the fake Wick-based magic mushroom dealing service that put up flyposters all over the capital, you’ll find that online for the first time, too.

Finally, it’s a week until the next time we gather for the Cultural Interest Group and a bumper summer free drinks social on the waterfront terrace at No.90 afterwards - full details of that at the bottom of this week’s newsletter, and hope to see you there…

🍗The world’s largest chicken wing festival London Wing Fest lands in the Wick once again from Fri 24th - Sun 26th Jul. London Stadium will host 45 street food traders, BBQ legends, and restaurants, with traders competing across categories like Best Buffalo Wing and Best Wild Wing - with individual servings for just £1.50 you can sample your way around before casting your vote.

🔥Just a short walk across the QEOP, you’ll also find UK Jerk Fest 2026 running at Hackney Bridge on Sat 24th & Sun 25th Jul, as the Black Eats crew bring the scotch bonnet heat to the biggest festival dedicated to jerk in the country. Expect firey flavours as the UK’s leading jerk vendors showcase their signature marinades, slow-cooked meats, and more in a celebration of Jamaican culture with island music and drinks, too, of course.

🎵The Urban Listening Room: Spatial Audio Experience is presented at UCL East next Tues 28th Jul. UCL's Black Box will open its doors to present a series of original spatial audio works, exploring how sound and sound systems shape space, memory, community, and collective listening. 

✂️Take part in the Creative Reuse Community Event at Trowbridge Garden on Sat 25th Jul, with a reclaimed material kilo sale and art & craft material swap. Find some unique fabric, leather, paper, wood, rug, mixed samples (tiles, wood, felt, etc.) at kilo-sale prices. Bring any art & craft material you no longer use and get a swapsies 10% off the kilo sale.

🚶The V&A East are holding a Hackney Wick and Fish Island Walking Tour: Sense of Place on Sat 25th Jul - uncovering the transformation from marshland to today’s landscape. The walk pieces together fragments of history, navigating local landmarks, built heritage and construction sites to look beneath the surface of the developing Wick.

Check out local culture reviews, features & interviews every week on thisisthewick.com

🪩Longstanding NTS resident Aqwea will be leading Rotation Policy on the canal banks at Grow on Fri 24th Jul for a night of house and energetic disco.

🎧Why not join for a Deep Listening Session from Millie McKee at No.90 on Fri 24th Jul -a voyage spanning spiritual jazz, psychedelic dub, and house rhythms.

☀️On Sat 25th Jul clear your afternoon as the Connects crew hit up Victoria Wharf with a summer day party featuring Fabe, Tardeloco, and a big roster of house and garage selectors.

🌵Glitch Garden Mini Fest is at Colour Factory also on Sat 25th Jul, turning Queen's Yard into a haven for hyperpop, PC Music nostalgia, and high energy club sounds. The line up includes Iglooghost, Hannah Diamond, Doss, MssingNo, Dark0, Megra, LobsterB, Jamie Reynolds from the Klaxons and more..

💃This Sun 26th Jul at Eastway Baths (previously The Bath House), vinyl mixer Coco Maria will make home on the Giant Steps soundsystem for an underground Latin evening - get ready for some afro'-Latin, cumbia, bossa nova, mambo and samba grooviness.

🙋Tonight, Wed 22nd Jul, at 6pm is the Community Development & Trust Meeting at St Mary of Eton’s. Open meeting for all connected to Hackney Wick, make your voice heard on all things community matters.

🖍️Run by Fish Island Support Hub CIC as part of the Tower Hamlets HAF Programme, the Fish Island Summer Club offers eligible kids free, active, and creative holiday sessions at Social Yoga Studio, E3. The program combines yoga, movement play, mindfulness, games, and creative activities with local outdoor adventures like canal walks, gardening, and sports around Hackney Wick and Olympic Park. Free healthy lunches, snacks, and drinks are provided daily; for inquiries or bookings, contact [email protected] or 07769157988.

🚀Discover Creative Careers has launched a fresh chapter as an expanded UK-wide initiative designed to make creative careers accessible to all young people (ages 11–24), particularly those from underrepresented communities. Delivered by the Creative Careers Collective, the updated platform connects students, educators, and industry leaders with hands-on work experience opportunities, career resources, and pathways into the UK's creative economy.

💡 Applications are open for Hackney Council’s Project Innovation Fund if you are a small, local community group, resident collective, or grassroots social enterprise with an income of less than £250,000. The grant is designed to help small organisations test out fresh community ideas, strengthen partnerships, and trial projects that support communities typically underserved by major systems. Appy by Aug 31st via Hackney’s Grants Portal.

🏆 Submissions are open for the biennial East London Art Prize, celebrating the incredible diversity of art made here in East London. Headed by Bow Arts and supported by local partners including East Bank and V&A East, the prize is open to artists living or working in eligible boroughs, including Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Twelve shortlisted artists will be featured in a group show with access to mentoring grants, while the overall winner will receive a £15,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow. Apply by Aug 16th.

💁🏼‍♂️ All grassroots community organisations based in Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest are invited to partner with Students’ Union UCL to strengthen your organisation through skilled student volunteering. From one-off projects to year-long partnerships including group volunteering, co-created research and volunteering events, the Students' Union's Social Impact Team connect local charities and community organisations with passionate UCL students to support your goals. Fill out our referral form to speak to the team and find out more about the opportunities.

🖼️ Entries are open for the 9th John Ruskin Prize for artists, designers and craftspeople, of all nationalities, aged 18 and over. Run by The big Draw, and supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, this year’s theme invites you to question the role of the maker today - what does it mean to create with an awareness of consequence, while also posing the challenge: must art serve a purpose beyond itself? Selected works will be exhibited at Trinity Buoy Wharf in 2027, and four winners will receive prizes totalling £9,500. Apply before 17th Nov.

📝Arbeit Studios is hiring a Sales & Administrative Asst to join them part time. The role supports the day-to-day operations of the creative workspaces - handling tenant onboarding, admin, finance tasks, and event space support. Pay is London Living Wage and hours are 8-16 per week (flexible, hybrid options available). Apply by 31st Jul by sending your CV and cover letter to [email protected].

💼 The Line are hiring a Head of Development to drive fundraising and partnerships for their community and outdoor art programs. The full-time, permanent role is based at Here East with a hybrid office/wfh structure. Applications by 5pm on Thurs 30th Jul.

🔪 Barge East are looking for a tenant for a newly built commercial kitchen within their secure food production hub in the centre of Hackney Wick. The space would suit an independent caterer, food producer, baker, meal prep business or anyone developing food products who is looking for a dedicated production base in East London. For more info, photos or to arrange a viewing, email [email protected].

📕 The Wick Book is a limited edition 160-page hardback historic record, looking at 15 years of culture, community and change in the neighbourhood through the pages of The Wick. We’re now down to the last 100 copies.

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