Pinboard: Win Tickets to our 2nd Birthday, plus Xmas Markets a-gogo – and a Bright New Talent

1. An Ode To Kentish Town? Local girl Ellie Lambert, who’s just 13, wrote and performed this celebration of NW5’s diversity at the annual Lady Somerset Road street party back in September, and we thought you might like to give it a listen yourselves. Think Sheeran-meets-Nash with some nice little rhymes to boot; we like the ‘Ken-tish/ Town’ syncopation too. Any music producers out there want to record it properly with Ellie? C’mon guys, it’s Xmas innit. Goodwill to all an’ that.

2. The Rebirth of Eatzone. We mentioned this back in a Pinboard earlier this month, as confusion reigned amongst noodle-eyed readers who feared losing what really was a very healthy local institution. The answer, as many of you will now know, is that it’s a new Thai, aptly named BaanThai, which opened (yesterday) on the 28th. Reckon the food will be pretty similar, but give us any feedback if you’ve already been.

5. Fairy Tales & Magical Beings At the Dandy Lion Market’s Winterland. Wow. This sounds ace. Sparkly rhinestones and crystals, embellished vintage shoes and bags, woodcut jewellery, “perversions of folk art habits” from Poland (yikes!), traditional leatherware in untraditional forms (ouch!), rustic homewares, Scandinavian knit cushions, and glorious trinkets ‘fit for any prince or princess’ are some of the breathlessly-mentioned wares at The Oxford on Sat. Enjoy special sweet and savoury treats too. 12.30-5.30pm. Free entry.

4. Do It Again On Sunday. If The Oxford hasn’t shopped you senseless, then Buzzby Market’s Christmas special might just finish you off. Co-organiser Nelly promises more things vintage and artsy-crafty and highlights the presence of Monsieur Joe-Joe’s warming food and obligatory mulled wine as an extra incentive to pop down. Quite. This Sunday at the Kentish Town Community Centre, 2-6pm, 30p Entry (or free for the kids).

5. The Obligatory Grafton Story What would the Pinboard be without an appearance by K-Town’s young upstart? This time, they’ve wormed their way into our news by being up (already) for an award, after being shortlisted from thousands of pubs to win a £5K makeover for live music, courtesy of PRS Music. Yay. Fingers crossed for the results on Dec 31.

6.The Forum Continues its Winning Streak. To whoever wrote recently that the Forum is the last haven of old goth and rock bands, we say: pah! After playing host to superstars both old and new in the last two weeks, tonight and tomorrow see two more shows at opposing ends of the musical spectrum. Acoustic guitar maestro’s Rodrigo Y Gabriela take over the venue tonight, while tomorrow night sees the Rap Mayhem Festival offer ‘heavy beats, rugged rhymes and intricate lyricism’ to the masses of NW5.

7. Yes. It’s Our 2nd Birthday! As daily readers will be aware, we have been celebrating our second birthday this week (you didn’t write, you didn’t call!) And tonight (Thursday 29) we’re having a secret bash. Ten lucky readers snapped up wristbands on Tuesday, but we’ve got just 5 more pairs to give away NOW. And it’s a free bar too (yay!) Simply tweet why you love The Kentishtowner (remember to @kentishtowner us).

Words: Conor Fisk and Stephen Emms

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