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’!
Don’t let the name alarm you. Instead of a horrendous ‘who can eat the hottest chilli’
contest, which would have a Nando’s ‘plain for kidz’ girl like me running for
the hills, the UK Chilli Stand Off
refers to a sort of X-Factor type
contest…except instead of talentless singers, we have eight talented
chefs…and
instead of singing, we have steaming pots of chilli con carne. With a
12pm and a 4pm sitting on 17th November, ‘cooking doesn’t get tougher
than
this’ with eight chefs battling it out to win the title. And the best
bit? We get to play the role
of a chilli guzzling Gregg Wallace, as we critique the chef’s efforts
alongside
guest judge, John Torode.
Competitors
include Dishoom, our national street food treasure, The Ribman and Tim Anderson
(the 2011 Japan fanatic Masterchef winner) to name a few. Wash it all down with 2 Texan beers and
a tequila cocktail (included in the £40 ticket) while enjoying live
music. Who said the proof is in
the pudding?
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!
