🍂 Today marks the autumn equinox, meaning summer is officially over - but we’ve got a little something to help you make the most of the changing season…

After last week’s London Cycling Festival, we’ve teamed up with event sponsor Lime to offer The Wick Community members 30 minutes of free riding credit, which you can use over the next month via your Lime app.

The credit can be used any time between now and 20th Oct, so there’s plenty of time to put it towards a few trips around as we head into the autumn.

We’ll send a special code to the first 50 people to start a new thread or leave a comment on the Community pages in the next week.

Launched a few weeks ago, The Wick Community is all about bringing the neighbourhood together, both online and IRL. You can use it to meet people, share what’s happening in the area, find out about events, make suggestions for what we cover editorially, and get access to special deals and offers like this one.

It’s free to join once you’re logged in, so if you haven’t signed up yet, now’s a pretty good time. Once you’ve been sent your code, you can claim your free riding credit directly through the Lime app and use it whenever suits you.

First come, first served - go!

As part of our growing network of partner businesses, we’ve teamed up with Mainyard Studios to profile some of their amazing creatives each week. There’s also a chance to get your first month rent-free if you’d like to make Mainyard the home of your own venture…

Are you a local business who’d like to be profiled in The Wick, too? Email us about network membership, which is only £250 per year including video, social, newsletter and editorial coverage, networking benefits, plus loads more: [email protected]

🍂 There’s a couple of things going on this weekend to mark the changing of the seasons, firstly a 3hr long Equinox Yoga & Sauna Ritual at Eastway Baths on Sat 26th Sept - including a gentle yin yoga, myofascial release, guided journaling, a release ceremony, Yoga Nidra and a sound bath, followed by a sauna session. There’s also the option to stay for a vegetarian or vegan dinner afterwards. Then over at Algha's Plantroom on Sun 27th Sept, Popola: Autumn Equinox - A Soft Reset includes movement, music, poetry and food for a sober queer afternoon of slowing down and welcoming the new season.

🎬 Also at Eastway Baths tomorrow Thurs 24th Sept, is Curiosity Cabinet, a night bringing together a selection of experimental and independent short films from filmmakers around the world.

📚 Fish Island Books is bringing Supper Club back together at Unlock on Thurs 24th Sept. Head down for an evening of books, conversation and good company, with this September edition focusing on Makis Malafekas’ Deepfake. Ticket includes: a copy of Deepfake, a pizza of your choice from the Classic Pizza menu, a glass of house wine/ beer/ soft drink, and a small tiramisu.

✍️ V&A East Storehouse is hosting a free David Bowie-inspired Poetry Workshop on Fri 25th Sept, using material from the archive to explore techniques including cut-ups and the musician’s famous oblique strategies. Then on Sat 26th Sept, there’s Shahed Saleem: Where are You Really From, an afternoon exploring the histories and identities of East London through film screenings and a Q&A.

🎭 Live Drafts: Untitled Bruce Rowley Project comes to The Yard on Fri 25th Sept - based on the rather weird true story of a man who robbed a bank, drove eight hours across the US and threw the money into Taylor Swift’s garden.

🎾 Bola Beach Tennis is wrapping up the summer with a Closing Party on Sat 26th Sept in partnership with HWK. From 2pm till dusk theyire serving up games and challenges with prizes, DJs playing all day long, pizza and cocktails on the sands too, all followed by an afterparty over at HWK.

🥪The Wick’s Hon’s BBQ is on the move this weekend, doing a 2-night collaboration with Bethnal Green sandwich shop Rogue Sarnies for Sarnies After Hours. The ticketed event is on Fri 25th and Sat 26th Sept - including a sandwich from the collab menu, and a DJ set from Hon himself (before the food, of course, he ran vinyl store Vinyl Pimp), back-to-back with jungle and hip hop DJs Tim Reaper and Deft. 

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

Review: ‘Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy’ at Stratford East

Review: The Return of Jazz on Wick

Queer Edge: Evolving with the Challenges of Nightlife

The Entrepreneur: Meet the Founder of Neighbourhood Wine Bar BĀDŌ

The Battle for Vittoria Wharf is On

We’ve joined forces with new small business newsletter Ping, which offers free advice to exactly the kind of independent and neighbourhood businesses we like to champion around here, so why not give it a read, too…

🎵 Brothers Cosmo and Patrick Liney are bringing their Aussie electronic pop duo Cosmo’s Midnight to No. 90 Lock on Thurs 24th Sept. Carda joins them on the bill for an evening of electronica, garage and dance pop.

🔊 At Grow on Fri 25th Sept is the return of Dubmerge - bringing a night of deep bass UK sounds from ŌKAMI, Goh Well and the night’s founder, Moontalk.

🪩 All Day Long lands at Two More Years on Sat 26th Sept - moving between house, disco, world, funk, Italo and acid for a free all-afternoon session.

🎂 Colour Factory is kicking off the second leg of their 5th birthday celebrations on Sat 26th Sept, starting with a garden party hosted by Foundation FM, featuring Roska, Fliss Mayo, Zaleel B2B Basmati and Poundshop. Things then ramp up later with FAUZIA, Kahn & Neek, 2CPERREA, DJ FUCCI, Kodemul and Bushbby.

🧘 Social Yoga is now hosting free drop-in yoga session Open Practice every Tues 10-12, where you can explore yoga without having to join a formal class - just two relaxed hours of movement, breathing, ideas, questions, tea and conversation. Contact via the website to book.

🌱 The Here East Sustainability Forum is taking place at The Trampery on Tues 29th Sept. The free event brings together local businesses, innovators and sustainability leaders, with a look at Here East’s sustainability roadmap, insights from woda_studio, Narcis Studio, Eco Tech Recycle and Compost Collective, printmaking and a catered lunch with live jazz.

🍸 Cosy Club has officially opened at Westfield, bringing its plush sofas, statement lighting and rather impressive fish tank to The Gallery, upstairs by Vue. Open from 9am, serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and cocktails, with walk-ins welcome if you haven’t booked.

🏗️ Riverside East is looking for its next operator. The Olympic Park is offering up the venue as a new opportunity for retail, hospitality, leisure and event-led businesses, with 14,094 sq ft of indoor space and 27,258 sq ft outdoors. The site includes a fitted café/bar and kitchen, a large first-floor events space with its own catering kitchen and roof terrace, plus a courtyard that could be used for outdoor dining, seasonal activations or fan zones during stadium events.

🏃 Team Marathon London is bringing a new kind of running event to Hackney Wick in May 2027. Rather than one person taking on the full 26.2 miles, teams of four will each run 10.55km together, with no relay handover. The race will be wrapped up in a festival-style atmosphere with DJs, live music, a brass band, street food and drinks. Tickets start at £26.20 per runner. Join the waiting list here to grab tickets when released.

🎬Hackney Council is hiring a Film Officer to join its Film Office. The full-time role involves managing film, TV and photography shoots on Council-owned sites, organising site visits, working with creative industry clients and representing the Council with residents and partners. It’s a 12-month fixed-term position, working 36 hours a week, with a salary of £45K. Film and TV production experience needed. Apply by Sun 27th Sept.

🎭Stratford East are hiring an Assistant Director for this year’s pantomime, Robin Hood and the Merry Mandem, written by Yolanda Mercy and directed by Jade Lewis, with music and lyrics by Robert Hyman. For full details read the job pack here. Application deadline Tues 29th Sept.

💼 East London Dance is looking for a new Executive Director. The organisation is after a strategic and entrepreneurial leader to help shape its next chapter, building on almost four decades of using dance to support participation, creativity and cultural impact across east London and beyond. The role will involve delivering the organisation’s vision, strengthening partnerships, driving sustainable growth and leading its work across culture, community engagement and organisational development. Applications close Thurs 8th Oct.

💸 The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust is offering grants of £500-£8,000 to UK-registered charities with an annual income of under £5m. The funding supports projects across three areas: participation in the performing arts, creative health interventions, and heritage crafts and skills, with a particular focus on increasing access for communities facing barriers to opportunity. Applications close on Fri 2nd Oct.

😂 Got a grassroots project that could do with £5,000? The Happiness Fund is offering two £5,000 grants to community-led projects working around mental health, wellbeing, inclusion or skills development. Run by Laughology, the fund is looking for projects that can have a long-term impact and help people thrive, so if you’ve got an idea that could make a difference in your community, it could be worth a look. Deadline is Fri 2nd Oct.

🎵 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 last 30+ copies.

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