festival – The Cultural Exposé

The Slides & Scoops ice cream festival is BACK!

Matilda — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 07:00:11 +0000

Last year, London had it’s very first ice cream festival, in a playground, somewhere in east London, and it was EPIC. But in typical British summer time fashion, it rained. All. Day. The good news is, the festival is back for 2016 – and while we can only hope and pray for sunny, warm weather on July 16, at least we know it’ll be sweet. This year’s gig is at the Lumpy Hill Adventure Playground in Islington from 1-6pm and will feature:

Drunken Dairy
Wavey Ice
Callestick Farm
Greedy Goat
Blu Top Ice Cream Freakshakes from The Canvas Cafe
… and loads more

You can get in for free via Yelp or for £10, which will be donated to the Islington Play charity. RSVP here.

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Photos: Jazz:Fest, Southbank Centre

Matilda — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 12:00:12 +0000

The mighty Jazz Refreshed crew made their Southbank Centre debut with a day-long celebration of experimental jazz sounds on Sunday. I couldn’t wait to see headliner Ty, and as usual, he lived up to his legendary status with a brilliant and energetic performance. Here’s a few snaps from the day:

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Photos: Africa Utopia at Southbank Centre

Matilda — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 12:00:25 +0000

This three-day festival of arts and ideas from Africa keeps getting better and better! I only managed to swing by Sunday afternoon, but loved seeing the Chineke! Junior Orchestra in action, as well as folks chowing down on Africa street food, the gorgeous clothing stalls (I need a Vlisco-style wax fabric tee, stat) and the Afro dance class (which I actually gatecrashed, but nobody seemed to mind, ha). Check out some of my pics below:

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Counting down to Jazz Re:Fest

Matilda — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 19:30:43 +0000

The mighty Jazz Re:freshed crew are leaving their West London home and heading to the Southbank next Sunday (20th) for Jazz Re:fest – a free one-day celebration of the innovative, jazz-inspired music the collective has championed over the years. If you’ve ever been to their Thursday night jam at Mau Mau Bar on Portabello Road, you know this will be an incredible day of joints and jams – especially as the festival line-up includes over 45 DJs, musicians and artists including legendary hip-hopper Ty and saxaphonist/rapper Soweto Kinch. Head over to the Southbank Centre website to find out more or visit www.jazzrefreshed.com as they countdown to the big day.

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House of St Barnabas are putting on a live art festival

Matilda — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 13:16:53 +0000

Merike Estna JacketsPaintings / PaintingsJackets. Acrylic and silk paint on silk and cotton Photo by Aime Estna.

Taking place on 21-27th September, the Art Social festival will see the homeless charity/private members’ club host a week of inspiring arty activities including live art, film screenings, workshops, talks, music and a silent disco. Highlights this year include:

A 4 metre-tall, inflatable teapot in Soho Square by artist Hester Reeve (complete with teacups and biscuits)
JacketsPainting / PaintingJackets – edible and wearable art from artist Merike Estna, which audiences will be invited to eat and wear
Film screenings and performances from artists including Jeremy Deller, Laure Prouvost, Marlene Haring and Jennifer Reid
Workshops including tie-dying, Broadside Ballad-writing and fresh-flower button holing
And Mini Manifestos – a series of 20 minute pop-up lectures from speakers including co-founder of Patternity, Anna Murray, journalist Hannah Pool and founder of The Idler Academy, Tom Hodgkinson

Weekday events are free and day tickets only cost a tenner. They’re available now from www.hosb.org.uk.

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See what’s going down at Africa Utopia this weekend

Matilda — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 09:00:30 +0000

Check out the schedule: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/africa-utopia

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What we’ve been up to… August in Africa Summer Festival 2015

The Cultural Exposé — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 10:00:47 +0000

Sooner or later, the Africa Centre’s summer festival will have to find a new home that’s alot more spacious than its current residence in Covent Garden, judging by the hoards that flocked to the free annual this year. With a stellar line-up of musical acts, exhibitions and fashion shows, the 2015 outing was a blast and set a new bar for whatever 2016 has in store (we’re already looking forward to it!). Check out pics from the weekend in our photo gallery.

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What we’ve been up to… Vault Festival

Matilda — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 11:00:45 +0000

The Vault Festival celebrates all that’s weird, wonderful and experimental in London’s creative underground with an incredible offering of music and entertainment that has seen it go strong for the last three years. Last week, TCé passed through to check out The Dog and The Elephant – a brooding one-man show which tells the story of a man’s friendship with an African Elephant. It’s a strange premise, but surprisingly, one that makes for a very compelling show. Later, we hung around for the free live music, watching folksters The Ceilidh Liberation Front effortlessly bring over 100 people to their feet to dance the cares of the hump day away. If you want to get in on this action – and believe me, you will – the festival runs until 8th March and more information can be found at www.vaultfestival.com. Check out pics from our recent visit below!

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Somewhere you should go… The Blues Kitchen Rib Festival

The Cultural Exposé — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 11:00:05 +0000

You might think that BBQs aren’t something to book into the diary for the next few months – but you couldn’t be more wrong. Camden’s Blues Kitchen is giving reason enough to block out the next four Mondays, as some of London’s greatest BBQ chefs arrive for the first-ever Rib Festival. The guest chefs will fire up the many in-house smokers to cook up their own unique takes on the iconic BBQ dish. The front of house will feature live music from the London Bluesmen and Sam Hare & Oliver to accompany your meaty meal.

First up tonight is the Prairie Fire BBQ, cooking up traditionally slow-cooked Kansas City style BBQ (for you BBQ newbies, that means the meat is slowly smoked and then covered in a sweet, tomato-based sauce). Prairie Fire BBQ’s sauce is handmade weekly and comes from a recipe passed down through the generations.
The 27th January session will showcase London’s own The Rib Man, famous for his spicy “Holy F##k!” sauce and high-quality meats. On 3rd February, Grillstock from Bristol will bring its hickory wood-smoked meats to the Kitchen. Then on the 10th, DJ BBQ will be cooking up Carolina-style(smoked low and slow with vinegar and spices) pulled pork. For further info, visit: www.theblueskitchen.com/whats-on (Words: Barbara Cole)

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Somewhere you should go… Jazz Re:fest

Matilda — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 10:00:49 +0000

It was 10 years ago that a cool crew of jazz aficionados from West London decided to honour their beloved genre with a weekly live residency, offering a forum for likeminded fans to enjoy incredible music plus have a great night out – the ultimate win-win, really. Since then, Jazz Re:freshed has seen all sorts of jazz-inspired acts (established, homegrown, international, et. al.) bless their stage in a way that’s belied the stoic nature of the genre in the mainstream – and it’s this philosophy that has put JR in good stead over the last decade. So you can imagine they’ve got plenty to celebrate, which is why they’re marking their anniversary with a festival featuring some of those amazing bands and acts that have shown Jazz Re:freshed love at some point or other.

For those in the know, that includes Daz-i-kue (Bugz in the Attic), Eric Lau, Nathan Haines, Vanessa Freeman (Kyoto Jazz Massive, Reel People) and the indomitable singer Vula – and if you don’t know, you’ll get your chance to on Saturday, August 24th, when they’ll be holding court at The Flyover after hours from 9pm. So come with an open mind (and your dancing shoes!) for this pre-carnival warm-up.

For more info, visit: www.jazzrefreshed.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/jazz-refest

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