🎃 Get creative at Barge East Gardens on Sat 31st Oct, teaming up with world renowned puppetry and production specialists AMS, for a free pumpkin carving afternoon. All materials provided, including pumpkins, but once they’re gone they’re gone, so don’t hang about! You can also make an afternoon of it with brunch, coffee or hot chocolate aboard the newly refurbished Milk Float.

🎤 The Trampery on the Gantry in collaboration with Club Culture are celebrating Black History Month with New Voices on Fri 30th Oct. The free event, at Clarnico Club Coffee, will showcase music, spoken word and visual artists from the local community and beyond. The current lineup includes East London soulful singer Monifé, alongside an art display by Cai Bellis exploring dance music culture and the community spaces that shape it. More artists are still to be announced, and there’ll be refreshments from SEND Coffee and Taste Invaders.

🫣 Created and performed by Morgan Brame, filthy drag clown show Live Drafts: Dirty Little Mark is at The Yard Theatre on Fri 30th Oct. Mark, an overgrown baby in a soiled nightie with a love of Cilla Black, is dealing with pollution in the soil of his hometown of Widnes, and there’s no soap left to go around…

🎬 The New Black Film Collective is bringing rom-com You, Me & Tuscany to The Type Building on Thu 29th Oct for a free screening, followed by a panel discussion.

👻 Wickidz is rounding out spooky season with its Halloween Closing Party at Hackney Bridge on Sun 1st Nov. The family friendly dance party is aimed at kids 12 and under (plus chaperones), with resident DJ Rob Da Dad joined by Matt Masters to keep the tunes coming. There’ll also be crafts, games and spooky face paint, with the dress code 80s horror.

🎲 Round up your mates for LVLS’s Games Night on Thu 29th Oct. A free, relaxed evening of board games and cards. Bring your pals, pick a game and settle in for some friendly competition, or turn up solo and meet some fellow enthusiasts.

🧟 Project E20 Scare Fest runs until Sat 31st Oct at ArcelorMittal Orbit, with a scare maze sitting 80 metres up in the air. What’s a scare maze you ask? Well, you’ll just need to navigate a dark, twisting military facility while dodging monsters and mutated subjects lurking inside, before making your escape via the Helix (the world’s longest tunnel slide).

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🌍 Gwenda welcomes KAMAR on Fri 30th Oct for a set that moves across deep grooves, dub and global rhythms. The Palestinian, Lebanese and British DJ is also a record collector and host of Tealeaves on Worldwide FM, and will be joined by Caruso for a night of music without borders.

💀 Get into the Day of the Dead spirit with Chicha de los Muertos at GROW on Sat 31st Oct. Hypnotic Peruvian cumbia, tropical rhythms and psychedelic melodies will feature, with a live set from Los Bravos de la K’umbia, plus Latin vinyl selections from Crucial Juice, Paskal Rough & Tough and Stefano Cornerman.

🦇 CRATE Brewery is turning its taproom into a warehouse party for the Halloween Taproom Takeover on Sat 31st Oct. Corcra warms things up before LO-LOW takes over, moving from groovy disco to house. It’s free entry, with drink tokens up for grabs for the night’s best costumes!

👻 Colour Factory gets a pop music fright with Crypt Cube on Sat 31st Oct, as PC Music’s Pop Crypt returns for Halloween. The lineup includes Sophia Stel, Iglooghost, Babymorocco, GFOTY, GRRL, Moriah Mensa, O Samuel, Organ, Dionokia and Simon Whybray. There’s also a separate afterparty at Colour Factory, featuring live sets from Hannah Diamond and Namasenda, alongside Koreless and Mina Galàn.

🕸️ Brama’s House of Horrors takes over Number 90 Hideout on Sat 31st Oct for a spooky party with an eclectic house lineup. Doudou MD headlines, joined by Fais Le Beau, Grace Sands b2b Toby and Sam PV, while Stckman and S3BA take over the chillout boat. Loren Dell’Arco hosts, with visuals and an installation by ono.sendai.runner.

🎃 Fabwick hosts House Music Haven: Halloween Special on Sat 31st Oct, with Bubbledee and Vicious bringing a house lineup. Mono Dust, Irren, Larry Cadge and medmat are on the decks, before things continue at a secret afterparty elsewhere in the area…

🪩 Keep the festivities going into Sunday with Sticky Plastik Halloween Sunday Daytime on Sun 1st Nov. The Fish Island session brings together Darush, Marcelina Wick, Neha and PIR for a house and tech soundtrack. Exact venue is shared with ticket holders after purchase.

🛝 The QEOP is planning to refurbish the play and gym facilities in South Park, with improvements due to be completed by summer 2027. The team wants to hear from the people who use them, including what works well and what could be better. Have your say by completing the short survey or by emailing [email protected] by Mon 14th Dec.

🌳 Our Parklife is looking to team up with local organisations and community groups on projects that make a positive difference to people and the environment. The Community Collaboration Programme is open to ideas at any stage, from early concepts to existing projects that could benefit from a helping hand. There’s funding available for successful projects, with a focus on community wellbeing, volunteering, inclusion and improving local green spaces. Submit an expression of interest to explore a collaboration.

🍚 There’s a new food spot in town: Rice Gang, which opened last week, bringing Cantonese classics to White Post Lane, so head over to check out what’s cooking. They’re open Thurs to Sat, 12–8pm. Have a look at their website or Instagram for more details.

🍷 Friday Wine Club is now running at The Lord Napier every Fri, with any bottle of non-sparkling wine £30 before 9pm.

✊🏿Hackney's Black History 365 programme is now running through to November, with a newly announced programme of grant-funded cultural projects - ranging from dance and carnival workshops to creative writing, heritage and storytelling projects. Check out the full programme here.

📱 London music platform SECTION. is looking for a Content Creator to make short-form videos and social content for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, capturing behind the scenes moments from DJ sessions, events and studio life. The job also involves running social channels day to day, coming up with content ideas and writing captions. The role is hybrid, based at Studio 020 in Netil House, Hackney, with full-time or part-time hours available. Salary is competitive, depending on experience, and pro rata for part-time. Applicants need to be London-based, comfortable with video editing tools such as CapCut or Premiere, and plugged into underground electronic music. Applications close Fri 6th Nov. Find out more and apply.

🎨 There’s still some spots left on Kinsome Studio’s Finding The Artist’s Way course, starting tonight, Wed 28th Oct. Aimed at FLINTA musicians, DJs, songwriters, producers and music industry professionals, the 12-week group works through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way to help unblock creativity, build confidence and get your creative plans in place for 2027.

⚙️ Grow Studios is looking for a Head of Operations to help run its creative studios and cultural space in Hackney Wick. The full-time role pays £42,000–£45,000 a year, depending on experience, and is an 8–12-month fixed-term contract, with potential to extend. They’re looking for someone with experience in operations, budgeting and improving systems, and you don’t need to have worked in the creative industries. The position is due to start as soon as possible, and applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis until the role is filled. Find out more and apply.

🎨 V&A East Youth Collective is looking for 12 young locals aged 16–24 to help shape how the museum and Storehouse connect with young people. The 8-month paid programme includes creative workshops, research trips and 16 evening sessions, with participants contributing ideas around creativity, wellbeing and making museums more welcoming. Applicants must live, work or study in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest. Applications close Sun 1st Nov.

📱 Hackney Empire is recruiting a Social Media & Content Creation Trainee to join its Creative Development and Marketing & Communications teams. The part time role averages 21 hours a week at £14.80 an hour, with hands-on experience creating social media content and campaigns, designing flyers and posters, communicating with local communities, and supporting programmes and shows including Alter Ego and the Nannies of Today podcast. This opportunity is specifically for someone with lived experience of forced displacement who has sought asylum or refuge in the UK. Applications close Mon 23rd Nov.

🎨 Royal Docks Originals returns in autumn 2027, and the call is out for local artists, creatives, businesses and community groups to get involved. There are grants available for new projects, including collaborations between artists and local venues, as well as funding for groups of creatives working in the same studio space. The free festival will bring a month of art, installations and performances to the waterfront, so now’s the time to get your ideas moving. Applications close on Mon 23rd Nov.

🎵 The Youth Music Trailblazer Fund is now open for applications, offering grants of £2,000-£30,000 to organisations running projects that help children and young people make, learn and earn in music. The fund is particularly interested in projects that trial a new way of working, help sustain a grassroots programme, disrupt the status quo - or ideally, all three. Applications close on Fri 20th Nov.

📕 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 very last few copies.

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