Ahh, the simple joy of eating and drinking in the sunshine with friends - old and new - and all to a great musical soundtrack. 😋

Around this way, we are truly spoiled by the opportunities for indulging in all of that good stuff, too. Just check a few of the things coming up in the next few days, and we’ll see you out there…

🎶 First up is the opening night of 2025’s Summer by the Canal, the popular waterside season of live music and outdoor dining that goes off at Here East’s well-appointed Canalside strip. From tomorrow, Thurs 17th Jul, and every Thursday through to the end of September, a curated selection of rousing live singers and musicians will play from 5.30pm, with The Edge Band starting the proceedings this week. When you’re not dancing in the sunshine, the Canalside’s line-up of bars and restaurants are right there to take care of your evening.

🍷 Across this weekend, Sat & Sun 19th-20th Jul, the 100 Years of Rioja: East London Wine Weekender offers no less than 50 different Rioja wines to taste at Hackney Bridge. It’s free entry, or you get to fully redeem the price of paid tickets against your choices of the wines. You’ll also find live demos and winemaking masterclasses, pintxos streetfood and live Spanish fiesta bands for a one-off celebration of the popular tipple and it’s culture.

🍖 Then back in the Hackney Bridge garden next weekend is your chance to tuck in to array of street food from across Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond at the 5th annual Black Eats Festival. There’s a family-friendly daytime session or a more lively evening affair, with a Havana Club cocktail, live DJs, a curated retail marketplace, bookshop, and plenty more to discover throughout the three days, Fri 25th-Sun 27th Jul.

🐔 Alternatively (or perhaps as well!) just across the way at the London Stadium, also Fri 25th-Sun 27th, the world’s largest chicken wing festival is back. London Wing Fest is three days of live music, DJs, rides and games, axe throwing, eating competitions and a signature trucker hat included with every ticket. A frankly frightening 500,000 chicken wings will be devoured across the weekend, served by 45 of the best street traders, restaurants and BBQ experts around, all vying to be voted no.1.

🥻London College of Fashion’s Undergraduate Class of 2025 Exhibition features work from their design, communication, and business schools, as students look beyond the traditional notions of fashion to imagine a new and exciting future. The show is open daily all this week, until Sat 19th Jul, at the UAL building at East Bank, offering visitors an unparalleled glimpse into the future of fashion.

📸 Aspiring fashion snappers will want to book a place at the next talk in the series being held at the World Press Photo exhibition at MPB Gallery, Here East. At Kid Circus - The Journey to Become a Fashion Photographer, you’ll hear how Kid came up via the initial wave of photographers finding success through Instagram, initially embracing mobile phone photography to capture architecture and London street life, before finding his feet with portrait and fashion work on location and in the studio. Wed 23rd Jul.

🐦 Next at Sadler’s Wells East, on 17th - 19th July, the Aakash Odedra Company will bring a mythical songbird to life through a mix of classical kathak dance, Sufi poetry and a soaring musical score in Songs of the Bulbul. This morning, ahead of the performances, Aakash was announced as the latest Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, a prestigious appointment that honours where he is at today as both a performer and choreographic artist. Check out The Wick’s exclusive interview with Aakash to find out more about Songs of the Bulbul and his wider work.

Make sure you head over to discover the new Carpenters Dialogue Express Cafe, which opened last weekend in a former railway carriage on Gibbins Rd on the Carpenters Estate.

The vintage 70s rolling stock, which was previously based at a museum up in Halifax, is now home to a unique space where coffee, conversation, and inclusion meet.

The café’s baristas are deaf or hard of hearing, so customers are encouraged to place their orders using British Sign Language, with easy-to-follow guides on tablets throughout the space for those unfamiliar with using BSL.

The idea is to spark meaningful dialogue between the Deaf and hearing communities, offering a genuinely special and inclusive environment - and Union’s ‘Bright Note’ hand-roasted coffees, of course - in this attractive pop-up carriage, which has permission to be on the land for at least three years.

🌍 Forward-thinking ‘people, planet and party’-focused club promoters Melting Lights are taking over Block C at Hackney Bridge this Sat 19th Jul with both indoor and outdoor terrace fun. You’ll hear disco grooves early on, evolving into house and techno as the night unfolds, from DJs Clara Rhodes, Jamie Ardor, boogielou and more.

🎧 Balearic original Nancy Noise drops in to play a 3-hour DJ masterclass, joined by NYC royalty DJ Lloyd for a crate-diggin’ house music throwdown at Hand-made with Love this Sat 19th Jul at Vittoria Wharf Studio.

🍹 This week’s 100 Free Drinks on the Rooftop event at The Lord Napier Star is back tonight, Wed 16th Jul, where you can grab one of 100 Free El Dorado daiquiri slushies from 6pm onwards, or head there on Thurs 17th for all the action in the Euros Quarter Final.

🍺 Sister pub The Leyton Star has £5 pints Mon-Fri before 8pm, making it a very attractive post-work watering hole for locals, and the Euros are also showing there, too.

🎷 The free Spotlight: Live Jazz Jam Session is back at No90 Hideout this Tues 22nd Jul with artist and host Afrikan Boy, DJ Chanty74, LAFT the house band and guest Chevelle Frazer-Rose. Musicians are free to come down and join in, while everyone else can enjoy a unique night of collaboration and good vibes.

3 local fitness deals to try

🥊 Despite the current messy state of White Post Lane out front, The MAW Studios offer acclaimed boxing and kickboxing classes, plus a wholistic approach to personal growth, fitness and strength. Visionary founder and British Kickboxing Champion Mark A Walker runs classes for all ages and abilities, and your first class is free, too.

🎾 The Bola Beach Tennis pop up, located just across from Barge East, are offering all The Wick readers who are residents of either Hackney or Tower Hamlets 25% off coaching sessions and the kids programme. Use the code BOLATHT25 at the checkout

🧘🏼 Fish Island’s new Social Yoga movement community, which opened last month offering the full range of styles, from restful Yin through to dynamic Rocket, has a Try July special of just £20 for 3 classes running until the end of the month.

💡 If you’re a Hackney resident with an idea you’d like to deliver to celebrate Black History Season later this year, the Council have small grants of up to £2k available. Apply by 11th Aug.

🦺 Applications are open for the COLLABORATE: SAFER SPACES Commission, offering the opportunity for four diverse-led teams to receive support and up to £50k each in flexible funding to develop collaborative ideas around the theme of ‘Safer Spaces’, as part of the final round of Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, supported by Westfield Stratford City and co-funded by Foundation for Future London. The commission will provide the time and space to develop, test and embed collaborative work alongside partners, with wraparound co-designed support across each stage of programme development. Apply by 18th Aug.

🎤 Hear from East London Art Prize shortlisted artist Kuda Mushangi on what it is like working as an artist and architect in East London, and find out all about the opportunities and programmes the Good Growth Hub has on offer for up and coming local artists and young people at the free Talk and social: Good Growth Hub late with Kuda Mushangi and Vyonne Mirara, being held at their Hackney Bridge hub on Thurs 31st Jul.

🪛 The Restart Project is looking for proficient fixers to help revive small to medium-sized electricals, with support and training provided, at Hackney’s new Fixing Factory. If you’re a seasoned pro, you can also help reduce waste and bring items back to life while guiding others. Sign up to join a learning module now.

🎓 The Inspiring Success Scholarship at Loughborough University London covers 100% of tuition fees on a masters programme, including career guidance and support, to unemployed or under-employed graduates from East London at their London campus at Here East. Residents of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, or Waltham Forest who are willing to actively contribute to the local community are invited to apply for the programme by 31st July.