With all the bad press that London’s been getting recently, Kentish Town’s annual festival yesterday seemed to shine more than ever.
Without a merchandise stall this year to keep us on the straight and narrow, we careered across the criss-cross of streets, plastic pint glasses in hand, perusing the arts, books, bric-a-brac and crafts for sale. Streetfood stayed classy: buttermilk chicken from the Grafton, bangers from Top Dog, wiener schnitzel burgers at Boopshi’s, Bob’s tasty avocado bruschetta and prawn summer rolls dished up by Carrots + Daikon. There was probably a cupcake in the mix at some point, too. And when the sun came out, it really was sweltering.
Lubrication was provided by potent rum cocktails from Flaxon Ptootch – and, of course, lashing of Hells, dispensed from the brewery’s neat van; but it was also nice to see pints of Camden now on draft at Map Studio Cafe, although a hiccup or two meant a slow-moving queue.
As usual, live music and DJs filled three stages – with crowds packed out for the ‘skareoke’ especially – but our particular favourite was the more cerebral Grassy Knoll, which boasted all manner of entertaining poetry, prose and acoustic performances. And Michael Kiwanuka? Wow.
In short, this yearly gem challenges all those prophecies of doom, and is to be cherished. It really is a defiant snapshot of a diverse and creative London community coming together.
What were your favourite moments? Share below.