The QEOP celebrates LGBTQI+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern-descent this Saturday 11th August with the return of UK Black Pride to the Park for a third year running.

This annual festival is now the world's largest such Pride celebration, creating a party day filled with live performances, talks, stalls, workshops and endless fun, all of which celebrates diverse sexualities, gender identities, gender expressions and cultures.

With such shameful scenes of intolerance in the national news at the moment, the events also serve as a timely reminder that far more of us are invested in love and acceptance than violence and hatred, no matter what some shouty fascists may attempt to do.

🏳️‍🌈 There’s also the Queer Weekender taking place over at Hackney Bridge (10th & 11th) with a vibrant rainbow takeover of the space, including a queer market, live music, tattoos and tooth gems plus all the usual bountiful street food and drinks options close at hand.

CIG meets this Friday morning. All welcome…

👗 There's a day-into-night filled with fashion and associated fun taking place this Saturday 10th August at Indra Gallery, as the latest collection from Kutivz Kouture brings unique designs and Afro Luxe statement styles to an in-gallery runway. As the evening sets in, DJ Spective will be amping up the soundtrack heading towards a catwalk extravaganza and some special performances from award winning artists to top off the event.

🌏 Head to Hypha Gallery 2 over at Sugar House Island tomorrow night Thursday 8th August for the Private View of new show Ripples, which features an evocative collection of installations, film, painting, photography, and mixed-media works by 20 emerging artists from the Royal College of Art. The exhibition challenges conventional narratives around decoloniality, and how it can be analysed in contemporary times through both personal and communal lenses. There’s a talk from the curators at 7pm on the PV night, and then a program of artist talks on Fridays throughout the exhibition period (16th, 23rd, and 30th August, 7-8 pm). Sign up for the free private view, with drinks by Jim & Tonic Distillery here.

🎨 Make sure to catch Uprising, currently showcasing the huge range of talented women artists from across Hackney Wick at Trowbridge Gardens. The exhibition has been extended to Monday 12th August, so don’t sleep…

🏅 New QEOP food hub Riverside East is throwing two free days of Breaking Olympic Watch Parties this Friday 9th and Sat 10th August as hip hop dancing hits the Paris 2024 games for the very first time. Expect DJs from BBC 1Xtra, spontaneous cyphers and panel talks with hip hop media platform The Capsule, ahead of the big competitions streamed live from Paris.

🎪 Then on Sunday 11th The Big Market returns to Riverside East, where you can buy lifestyle and homewares, tasty deli items and more from local businesses. It starts from 9am with breakfast and coffee to get the day off to a good start.

🥊 You’ll want to grab a ticket for Scandal, a pup-up art and music festival taking place at Fabwick next Friday 17th August. The event is participatory installation where you enter a boxing ring with an integrated AI photo booth, so expect to get fully involved in the project of “resolving conflict through creativity and art, and creating a space where rebellious ideas merge and triumph.”

🪘 The popular Soul on the Canal Side is back for another summer outing at Grow all day and night on Saturday 11th August courtesy of the Mucho Soul crew. You’ll get an afternoon of classic abs 2-step soul, jazz, funk and deeply soulful house too from the likes of DJsoulprovyder, Basil BlackIIBasic, Collin Patterson and the Mucho Soul duo DJ AKA and Ket Shah (pictured above), with no advance tickets needed - just rock up and get down.

🥳 Beloved Queen’s Yard venue the Colour Factory turns 3 this Saturday (11th) and is throwing a predictably all-the-stops-out birthday bash by way of celebration. Five fabulous DJ collectives will keep things bumping from 4pm-4am, plus there’ll be attractions including a bouncy castle and bucking bronco to add to the madness.

🪓 Axe range Skeeters are celebrating their 4th birthday next Saturday 17th August with 50% all bookings made for the day, £5 sample sessions, drinks deals at the bar, a DJ, raffle and loads more - use the code BIRTHDAY50 on their website to grab a place, with a percentage of proceeds going towards UNRWA offering support of the emergency in Gaza.

🎷 World class cocktails and live music are back in the refined setting of The Stratford Hotel's cocktail bar The Mezzanine every Saturday through the summer from 10pm-1am

🎪 Sustainable Wallis Road business hub The Loop has a pop-up space out front that they are currently offering to local entrepreneurs, and with the sun out, it’s a prime spot. It costs just £50 a day for the pitch, with no minimum period. Ethical and circular businesses are preferred, although all welcome. Email: [email protected] for info and bookings.

🛒 The London Made Me retail development programme is back for 2024 with applications now open from the capital’s Creative Enterprise Zones, and that - of course - means Hackney Wick & Fish Island needs to represent. If you’re a local artist, maker or creative looking to grow your business by running a pop-up shop, you should definitely check it out, after the success of successful editions in Regent' Street and Carnaby Street in previous years. Applications close 9th August.

The Olympic Park’s SHIFT innovation catalyst is currently seeking London-based SMEs working on solutions to the sustainability challenges facing our food systems to join the next Future Industries Demonstrator challenge. If you are successful, you’ll have the chance to rapidly scale your innovation, with the opportunity of receiving up to £25,000 plus access to local co-working spaces and tailored support. Applications close on September 8th.

🎬 UCL East is running a free two-week film making course for LGBTQ+ youth (16-20) based in East London. You’ll learn how to use a camera, record sound and edit, creating a short film based on personal and local themes. At the end of the course there will be a screening of all the films to family and friends. It starts on Monday 12th August, so register your interest now.

🏢 Urban Frontiers is a pop-up exhibition from SHIFT and UCL exploring the new technologies and approaches to data that will shape the way we live, but are often invisible. These curated artefacts show how startups, researchers and communities are already building tomorrow's city and include physical solutions that will act as the building blocks of our cities, digital solutions tackling pressing issues, and experimental interventions straddling both the physical and digital. It runs on three select dates in August: Fri 9th, Fri 23rd and Tues 27th at UCL East’s One Pool Street building.

🤝 Social Founders, the organisation that supports people running projects that aim to make a real social impact, is running an event specifically for Hackney-based founders tomorrow, Thursday 8th August. The day is all about developing collaborations and joint proposals in order to secure more resources than they individually could. It’s open to creative entrepreneurs and businesses from all sectors, and includes guest speakers, an interactive workshop, lunch and networking opportunities. Find out more and register for free here.