Yesterday’s high profile release of the 2026 London Nightlife Taskforce report was an exciting moment for the capital’s cultural outlook.

With Hackney Wick renowned as a hub of after dark cultural production - but the pressures of coexisting with an influx of new residents, businesses and structural changes to the neighbourhood only rising - the report’s findings and recommendations are particularly important.

“This report should be taken seriously,” said Queen’s Yard venue Colour Factory founder and member of the Mayor’s Nightlife Taskforce, Nathaneal Williams.

“It brings together a diverse group of voices from across London’s nightlife and cultural industries, reflecting the breadth of experiences that shape the city and the lives of Londoners from all walks of life. That diversity is its strength. The work marks the beginning of a new era in how nightlife is understood as culture, and it invites a reimagining of how the city approaches, supports, and values nightlife going forward.”

The recommendations include establishing a fully-funded independent nightlife commission to provide a unified voice for the industry, and an official recognition of our nightlife for its huge cultural and heritage value, as cities like Berlin have famously done.

For too long, opera, ballet, classical music and theatre have rightly been supported as vital cultural assets, while nightclubs and grassroots music venues have more often been treated as something that needs to be strictly regulated and treated as a nuisance.

By pulling together the voices of industry experts and lovers of the creativity that takes place between 6pm and 6am, the Mayor’s office has proposed a far more grown-up approach to key issues. Things like safety and harm reduction, late night transport infrastructure and the positive impacts a vibrant night time economy can clearly have on our beleaguered high streets and vacant industrial spaces, if operators and promoters are trusted, not simply restructed.

Of course, the report is really just the start of that refocused conversation in the capital, and as the current national dialogue around financial support for pubs and other hospitality venues shows, numerous challenges remain to be solved.

But, proving there’s a spirit of optimism that’s nevertheless detectable in the air, two big East London clubland launches take place this very weekend, with the revitalised XOYO opening its doors to the public on Saturday night, and Timber Loft launching at The Light Bar (see below) on Sunday.

Rave on, London…

🧠 BRAINTOPI4 A WEEK / Hackney Gallery on Lower Clapton Rd / until Sun 1st Feb. / A week-long pop-up exhibition from our friends at Nostalgia Nights serves as a space for your brain to be let off the leash and have a little wonder around. You might create a collage, draw something or paint the walls. Print a U SHIRT tee, build a sculpture, make music, or a podcast or some food. And there’s a special party this Friday evening.

🎭 Here There Are Blueberries / Stratford East / Sat 31st Jan – Sat 28th Feb / Back in 2007, a mysterious album featuring Nazi-era photographs arrived at the desk of a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum archivist. As curators unravelled the shocking truth behind the images, the album made headlines, igniting a debate that reverberated far beyond the museum walls. Based on real events, this show tells the story of these photographs, what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust and our own humanity.

💃 The Dance Floor: Fly-Kid / Sadler’s Wells East / Sat 31st Jan / The ultimate hip hop, r&b, soul and pop rave for kids and their enthusiastic grown-ups returns to the Dance Floor. From the creators of Supa Dupa Fly, featuring competitions, games, activities and food from the PKB restaurant.

🌿 Sensemaking Stewardship: tracing care and rights with the Channelsea is an immersive talk that starts at The House Mill / Sat 31st Jan. / Surge Co-operative and the EcoLandS team will explore community-led stewardship and river rights on a guided walk along the Channelsea river with local conservationist Gregory Moffat, and the co-creation of a temporary display at the Long Wall Ecology Garden.

👗 Renée Community Eco Material Kilo Sale + Textile Swap / Sat 31th Jan / Trowbridge Gardens / Launch of a new regular monthly event where you can meet fellow makers, swap materials, and stock up on inspiration to keep creativity circulating. You find unique eco textiles, leather, paper, mixed samples (tiles, wood, felt, etc.) at unbeatable kilo-sale prices, with 10% off when you bring textile items to swap.

🎨 Sod’s Law One / The Bath House / Thurs 29th Jan / The exhibition is a group showcase of artists exploring completely different mediums from sculptures and sketches, to photographs and set installations all on the theme of Sod's Law. There'll also be seven diverse live music sets from experimental ambient to industrial shoe gaze and indie art.

💪🏻 Global fitness phenomenon HYROX has landed at Lee Valley VeloPark, with high energy, full body workouts inspired by the world-famous fitness race. Sessions blend running with functional exercises like sled pushes, rowing, SkiErg and strength based movements to build your endurance, power and confidence via a lot of sweat.

🪩 HWFI’s resident publican and another storied London party promoter, Rob Star, has been working on a plan for taking over the loft room at The Light Bar in Shoreditch for over two years. His dream of rebooting this once infamous Sunday afternoon party space finally comes true from this Sun 1st Feb as Timber Loft opens with a special 5-hour set from popular DJ duo Dungeon Meat, and further iconic afternoon events already lined up for the weeks ahead.

🎹 The venerable Ed Banger label’s modern French Touch maestro, Myd, is bringing his full Mydnight live experience to Colour Factory on Wed 4th Feb.

🥃 Raise a glass to Rabbie Burns at the Benromach Burn’s Night whisky tasting at The Lord Napier this Thurs 29th Jan, with a guided exploration of their award-winning handcrafted Speyside whiskies. The bargain £5.50 ticket includes a tasting of Benromach 10 and another whisky-based cocktail of your choice.

🎧 The Selective Hearing crew return to HWK for an afternoon of the best house and deep house selctions on Sun 1st Feb complete with in-house Slice pizza and £5 pints or 2-4-1 cocktails to redeem any Dry January efforts in style.

🏈 Book now if you want to see the sporting and musical spectacular that is Super Bowl 60 at The Leyton Star on Sun 8th Feb, as New England Patriots take on Seattle Seahawks, with Bad Bunny smashing out the half time show. The free tickets are now fully booked, but you can still grab one of the highly affordable £5.50 ones, and if you get there early there’s free drinks, too.

🪡 This afternoon’s Stitch in Hackney Community Craft Meet-up at Grow, Wed 28th Jan is a free chance to bring your crochet, knitting, sewing, rug-making, origami or whatever else you love to make, and hang out in a relaxed, creative setting. For this special Join In January edition, craft artist Verity Jones will provide all materials, and no experience necessary, just head over and join in.

🧵 Share the Love Stitching Workshop at Social Yoga on Sat 14th Feb. A mindful crafting session for Valentines Day led by Katy Homes of She Makes Things, where participants can create hand-stitched love cards while also focusing on their mental wellbeing.

🏗️ 901 Remus Road: Public Consultation at The Heath Studio Tue 3rd Feb & Sat 7th Feb is the latest chance to see and comment on final plans for the former Thrifty Cars Rental site, featuring 250 co-living homes, 44 affordable family homes, and public realm improvements.

📢 There’s a callout for any local employers looking to engage with students as the next Here East Student Jobs Fair when it returns on Fri 23rd Feb. Fill in the short form on the website if you have part time, internship and volunteering opportunities that could be an idea fit for the diverse and talented students attending Teesside University London, Loughborough University London, UCL, University of Staffordshire London and LMA.

🚮 The North London Community Fund (NLCF) is a £1million funding commitment to support projects that prevent waste to 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 by 16th Feb.

🧘🏼 Grow London Local Coffee Friday, Fri 6th Feb is chance to meet GLL’s Business Support Managers (and book a free consultation), meet new potential business partners, or connect with old ones who share similar goals and challenges, all over free coffee and pastries at Fish Island’s lovely community studio space, Social Yoga.