Christmas, a time for growing bellies and shrinking budgets, has just got better. Kill two birds with one stone at Hoxton Square's ice rink - don those skates, bust those moves and burn those calories - and the best bit? It's all for FREE!
As part of Destination Hackney's Christmas project to 'make Hackney sparkle', visitors can enjoy a light display and take to the ice without paying a penny. It's only on until Saturday 22nd December, so make the most of it while it lasts! If, like me, you’ve been given the label of ‘Bambi on Ice’ a few too
many times for it to be funny and the thought of donning skates has you
running for the hills, don't worry. Half the fun is laughing at yourself
(and other people). Grab some friends, drink a mulled wine or five
(probably best to do this after) and ‘chill out’!
With
‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’, the Dale Farm eviction and the Stoke Newington
Common fracas, travelers seem to be a relatively recent hot topic of
discussion. However, Colin O’Brien jumped on the gypsy wagon many years ago. His new exhibition at the Genesis Cinema,
‘Travelers’ Children’ focuses on the children of an Irish traveling community 25 years ago, who settled in East London at a time when
Hackney’s Victorian houses were being torn to the ground and its streets were poverty stricken and rubbish laden. If the current spotlight around traveling
communities has taught us anything about their lives, it is the insularity of their tight-knit communities
and their attitudes towards outsiders.
Through gaining their trust and confidence, Colin O’Brien’s photographs
give us unprecedented access to witness the highs and lows of traveling groups
and their children against the backdrop of 80s Hackney. The exhibition is on for the whole of October and is free - wahooo!
