Saturday marked Hackney Wick's first ever festival - yes really - which was a really special one. This is a community who are living as close as anyone else to the Olympic site and the organisors had worked together with the local community to put together a programme of walks, tours, rowing, cream teas along the canal and in the square that worked perfectly. I bought a t-shirt that said 'where the hell is hackney wick?' so I was happy. That was followed by a trip to Shoredtich Town hall for GOLD - an evening where I saw a brilliant band called Warm Puppies, entered a risque drawing contest (won nothing), joined in in a Punch and Judy show in the basement and listened to Sebastian Horsley talk about being a dandy - ahhh Shoreditch, where would we be without you?
Sunday was just the two things Vortex Outdoors took the world famous Jazz Club, er, outdoors for a great series of bands, food and dancing - and you could even chat to your mates without some jazzhead giving you an evil. Then it was another first - Hackney one Carnival saw the streets of central Hackney packed and smiling for a coming together of Hackney's 3 maginificent carnivals. They are getting ready for the Olympic Games, see?
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