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Hackney Wick commands global attention for a fair few things, from art to post-Olympics legacy blueprint, and famously as the home of trailblazing zero waste restaurant Silo, too.

And while they sadly have the final service at their home atop the White Building this weekend, the legacy of what’s been built here in HWFI looks likely to make an oversized impact in other corners of the globe in 2026.

“We’re not disappearing,” said founder Doug McMaster, announcing the news of winding up the restaurant operations a few weeks ago. “By closing the doors of Silo London, we open the way for a Silo world tour – a series of collaborations and pop-ups that will bring our zero-waste philosophy to new cities and communities around the world.”

With the fermentation factory project still very much part of the local ecosystem at The Loop (see video below), it will be great to see how the HWFI ethos carries on expanding elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the local sustainable food scene continues to innovate and earn praise, with unassuming Main Yard bakery Hearth now appearing in the Good Food Guide, alongside the likes of local heroes INIS, Barge East and Lucia’s, too.

Despite the travails of running a hospitality business right now, we expect more innovation, exciting concepts and praise landing on the food and drinks offerings around these parts in the year ahead - do go out and support them.

As in the case of Silo, there’s really no better example of thinking locally and acting globally.

🎄It’s the final week of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s nightly Winter Adventure series, with highlights including playing tennis with Santa tonight Wed 17th Dec up at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre with carols too, and a massive festive singalong up at Hackney Bridge with the inimitable Massaoke this Sun 21st Dec (main pic above).

🎄Also at Hackney Bridge this Sat 21st & Sun 22nd Dec is the next Christmas Makers’ Market, running over weekends until Xmas. You’ll find present ideas, stocking fillers and lots more.

🎄The Fishmas Shop is open daily until Mon 22nd Dec, by a collective of residents who make everything from unique teas to locally forged jewellery. Find it all at The Trampery Fish Island Village (Studio 31), including unusual items and secret recipes you won’t find anywhere else - plus pick up your copy of The Wick Book here too!

🎄Tree specialist Hackney Wickmas is open seven days a week at Hackney Bridge, offering only premium-graded Nordmann firs, handmade wreathes, lights, decorations (and free chocolates for everyone). Remember you can go through the netter for a £5 charity donation.

🎄Barge East’s popular Wick Wonderland riverside market is back for a final weekend this Sat 20th & Sun 21st Dec seeing more trees, treats, gifts, food, drink and loads more from sustainable local makers. Look out for the Victoria Park Singers special ‘carols by the canal’ performance on Wed 17th Dec, too.

⚪ Unpatterned is the last show of the year at Two More Years, which opens with a private view tonight, Wed 17th Dec, from artist Alia Pathan. Her work focuses on circular colour layering, the hue combinations informed by catalytic events in music, media and technology, abstracted images of the cosmos as well as spirit paintings and Islamic geometric design.

🪑 Essex Rd’s Twilight Contemporary Gallery is launching Twilight Interiors - an interior design studio working with the gallery to bring the language of contemporary art into the home. It all kicks off on Thurs 18th Dec with Chair I, in which sixteen artists reinterpret the iconic Bentwood chair.

🩰 The big Xmas show at Sadler’s Wells East, Ebony Scrooge, is a hip hop take on the Dickens’ classic, as formidable fashion empire boss Ebony, everyone’s nightmare boss, cancels Christmas for her landmark fashion show. Physical theatre and comedy make it perfect for a family outing. Runs to 4th Jan.

🪿 Stratford East’s Xmas panto, Mama Goose, is picking up rave reviews for its festive season run already, with its own deliciously East London spin on the classic golden-egg fairytale. Runs until Jan 3rd.

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🪘 NYE (Wed 31st Dec) sees a special party at Grow as the venue’s long-time collaborator, Williams Cumberbache, brings his 7-piece band Tumbaito and their blend of live Afro-Latin rhythms with modern urban sounds to celebrate the start of 2026, alongside Petra’s Dream and blissy e to close out the night.

🥳 Barrel into 2026 at the Crate x LLL New Years Eve party, as Crate Brewery is turned into a two-storey nightclub for one special night. The lineup brings together a crew of selectors pushing everything from UKG and breaks to bass, house and beyond as Bubski, Fliss Mayo, Live Laugh Layla, Manara, Rea and Tryb are at the controls.

🎈 Number 90 rings in its first post-renovation New Year's with a genre-defiant lineup at Slipped Disc x Access NYE, with the likes of Chloe Robinson, Denham Audio and Parris across their three revamped rooms, plus there’s the infamous Half Baked NYD bash the following morning and all day on the 1st, too.

🔊 There’s a full venue takeover at Colour Factory for their big NYE party headlined by Call Super and Josey Rebelle with masses to choose from across all the dancefloors thru till 5am, then there’s the cheeky Half Baked NYD Afterparty the following night, too.

🤩 The Star pubs are gearing up for a suitably big NYE, with The Lord Napier’s big NYE bash featuring the irrepressible Normski and delightfully deep house DJ Sassy Wylie taking you into 2026. Meanwhile, over at The Leyton Star DecadeDance will see big tunes from across the ages filling the dancefloor until 3am.

🎉 There’s a free party until late at Two More Years to celebrate the New Year with Emile on the decks and booking a table probably a very wise idea.

🕛 As NYE lands on a Wednesday this year, Hackney Wick nightlife hangout All My Friends have decided to keep their classic midweek deal rolling (until 8pm on the night), meaning £5 pizzas, £5 margarita cocktails and £5 pints for a bit of pre-party carb loading before they go all in with a full night of favourite DJs including Boboxa and Good Block.

👠 Newham-based fashion and creative arts education charity, Caramel Rock, is now accepting applications for their Official London Fashion Week Showcase, taking place in February 2026. It’s an exclusive opportunity for emerging locally-based designers, students, and graduates ready to make their mark on the global fashion stage.

📸 Join Hackney Society at the iconic Holborn Studios, the historic film and photography facilities located beside the Regent's Canal and recently saved from demolition in an epic legal battle, for a free talk tonight, Wed 18th Dec. You’ll get to have a look at their re-use of industrial buildings and learn more about how the space was saved, plus other campaigns in the borough, alongside a seasonal drink, too.

👒 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.

💚 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 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.

Discover the full story behind Silo, and how the waste-free restaurant expanded into an innovative koji fermentation factory and plenty more…