Happy New Year, dear readers! Welcome back, for the first 2026 edition of your weekly local culture guide - here to help you to get the most out of life in Hackney Wick and across the Olympic growth boroughs.

It’s freezing cold, dark by 4pm and we’re only a week deep into ultimately doomed resolution territory and post-festive penury. Yet there remain plenty of reasons to get up off the sofa and head out there, if you read on…

First up, there’s a new, free interactive sightseeing game ready to turn your next cold, wintery local walk into a hot mess of curious facts and scavenger hunt-style adventure.

The Black Path: Search for the Missing Barrow Boy has launched on the Questo mobile app; a self-guided puzzle to play by yourself or with a group, that leads you along the ancient medieval goods thoroughfare that runs from Spitalfields to Hackney.

All set in the East London of 1921, you’ll try to solve 11 location-based puzzles to piece together a mystery surrounding the disappearance of said market barrow boy, encountering intriguing bygone local characters along the way, from an angry Regent’s Canal lockkeeper to a pea-shooting ‘knocker-upper’, (as the human alarm clocks that used to rouse the capital’s slumbering factory shift workers were known).

The game is currently free to play -but we’re told it won’t be forever - so if you’ve got an interest in discovering more about this part of the city a century ago, revealing familiar streets in a completely new light, it feels like an ideal New Year’s pursuit.

The CIG meets again this Friday morning - all welcome

🪑 London's largest indoor flea market The Giant London Flea returns to the Wick this Sun 11th Jan with over 100 traders peddling everything from mid-century furniture to unexpected vintage oddities. It’s only £2.50 and takes over the massive multi-storey car park at Here East.

💬 The next session in the free V&A Storehouse workshop and talk series, Ideas Exchange, explores the economic pressures facing creatives today this Sun 11th Jan with The Economics of Creativity: navigating the creative economy. It’s a collaborative opportunity for all East London creatives to come and discuss the current polycrisis of rent hikes, AI, cost-of-living and more - and how to survive it.

⚪ Catch Unpatterned, at Two More Years, where artist Alia Pathan’s work focuses on circular colour layering, Her hue combinations are informed by catalytic events in music, media and technology, abstracted images of the cosmos as well as spirit paintings and Islamic geometric design. Runs to Wed 19th Jan.

🏀 The first BKT EuroCup clash of the year at The Copper Box promises high-speed, elite-level basketball for a midweek sports treat as London Lions take on Niners Chemnitz tonight, Wed 7th Jan.

🤼‍♂️ Prepare for a night of high-flying, hard-hitting rowdy wrestling chaos as Hustle Wrestling takes over the Colour Factory again on Thurs 8th Jan, featuring a series of battles and a huge Championship Match. Final tickets left so don’t sleep…

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Another free weekly newsletter you might like to read….

🤣 Head out to Hackney Comedy Club tonight, Wed 7th Jan to catch six(!) current and future stars of the UK comedy circuit, with special guest headliner Andrew Mensah, who’s recently featured on Live At The Apollo and Sky's Fantasy Football League (pictured above). All that for just £4 at The Star by Hackney Downs - tonight and every Wednesday.

🎶 For the coldest, darkest time of the year, canalside warehouse venue Grow are running their ‘Join In Jan’ series, celebrating local DJ talent with free entry to every party. This Fri 8th Jan, Bulgarian-born Paloma takes to the decks for an all-night journey through house, disco, funk, and jazz for a soulful way to shake off the January blues without breaking the bank.

🍷 You can get £5 January Sale Drinks including pints of Camden Hells and Pale Ale, Umbrella Cider, house spirits and 175ml glasses of house wine at The Lord Napier and the nearby sister pub Leyton Star all month, plus they’re also doing half price karaoke daily (ex-Saturdays) in the popular karaoke rooms at both boozers, too.

🤝 The Community Anchor Network (CAN) is hiring a manager to lead a new 12 month National Lottery-funded project. The role involves building relationships with 120–150 local organisations based in and around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to strengthen community power. Interested candidates email [email protected] to express interest. Closing date Jan 23rd.

🗓️ Cultural and Community Engagement at UCL East are recruiting an Events Assistant to support the development and delivery of the next one-day Trellis symposium, taking place in April 2026. You’ll be working one day a week for three months, making it a great opportunity for someone looking to gain their first skills and experience in admin and events coordination. Apply by Wed 28 Jan.

🖼️ Public art trail The Line is looking for a new Finance & Operations Director to play a pivotal leadership role in organisational development and the robust systems needed in ensuring their long-term sustainability. Apply by 11am this Fri 9th Jan.

🧵 Local charity organisation Caramel Rock is looking for skilled seamstresses to help with high-quality garment construction, samples, and repairs for their creative projects. Joining their community-driven team offers the chance to make a real impact. Interested candidates should send a CV, portfolio, or a brief summary of their experience to [email protected] now.

👒 V&A East is looking for an Assistant Curator, ahead of their new museum opening on East Bank in early 2026. Responsible for pushing the boundaries of curatorial practice and finding new ways to engage target audiences in the local community, the V&A is particularly interested in applicants who live in or have significant lived experience in the surrounding Olympic growth boroughs. Apply by 11th Jan.

🎭 As construction continues apace on their brand new home, The Yard Theatre are looking for a Development Manager to join the team and help them navigate the most exciting time in their history. Applications by Wed Jan 28th.

🚮 The North London Community Fund (NLCF) is now open, with a tasty £1million funding commitment to support projects that prevent waste and make a real
difference in local communities. If your network supports residents in Hackney and you’ve got a great idea for a waste prevention project, grants of up to £20,000 are available for 2026–27. Applications close 16th Feb.

💚 Hackney Green Business Grant Fund has just been re-launched, after a successful funding round last year. Grants of up to £10,000 are available to Hackney-based businesses for projects that improve the sustainability and environmental performance of their operations and the buildings they operate from. Apply by 18th Jan.

🖥️ If you are a local business or a UCL academic, the Creative Experiences funding call is offering grants of up to £5k to support collaborations with Loughborough University London academics, run by their Centre for Research and Innovation in Creative Experiences (CRaIC). The funding is designed to help the partners work together on developing innovative approaches to creative experience and the use of AI in the Creative Experience Economy. Apply by today, 7th Jan.

Loughborough are also offering Micro Internships that place their students with local businesses next March and April, and Collaborative Dissertation opportunities where students are matched with the topic of your choice to study throughout 2026.

👋🏻 The University of Staffordshire has launched a new fully-funded Microplacement Scheme, offering local organisations an opportunity to bring students onto their staff for 120-hours of funded activity across a wide range of potential projects - pretty much anything that supports them in building and applying their skills. Limited to 31 placements so apply now.

Forget Dry January and join YouTube beer enthusiast The Hoppy Traveller as he tours the neighbourhood’s best breweries and destinations for a proper pint, ahead of the recent West Ham v Villa match. It’s a reminder of just how spoiled we are for good IPAs, largers and other straight-out-the-tank delights, plus well-curated imports around here - bottom’s up! 🍻