Welcome

Warmer weather is putting us in mind of markets - a great list of seven local(ish) places to explore.

Plus get ready to vote in the May elections - and ten new local Assets of Community Value, a great heritage win.

🧺 7 Finchley-ish Market Gems

From flowers and farmers’ stalls to vintage finds and street food, these brilliant markets are all within easy reach of Finchley for a browse, bite or bargain hunt.

1: Camden Market. NW1​

The Queen/King of markets, right on our doorstep. Famous for alternative fashion, art and street food. Open daily.

2: Duck Pond Market. N6​

Combining the magic of a festival with interesting arts, crafts and homewares. There is food for now and food for later. Local, sustainable and ethical - with three dates in Highgate this year – Sundays 29 March, 28 June, 27 September at Lauderdale House.

3: North London Vintage Market. N10​

Almost monthly Vintage Market Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm & Sunday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm at Hornsey Parish Church, Crouch End. St Mary's Parish Hall, Cranley Gardens, Crouch End, N10 3AH.

Next market: April 7 & 8. Insta.

4: Alexandra Palace Farmers’ Market. N10​

Award-winning farmers’ market held every Sunday at Alexandra Palace Park OR nearby Campsbourne School.

Since 2003, it has become a well-loved local fixture for residents as well as visitors to the palace and park. The primary focus is top quality local produce such as fruit & veg, bread, cakes, meat, cheese, eggs, raw milk, preserves and more! Also on offer are local crafts and hot food, plus charity stalls and Fairtrade coffee.

Open Sunday 10-3

5: Archway Market. N19​

Every Saturday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm in Navigator Square N19 right by the Tube. Archway Market is a great place for a gift, and for fabulous food. Insta.

6: Camden Passage Markets. N1​

Car-free London street Camden Passage is hidden down a traffic-free, pedestrianised back street, just off Upper Street in the London borough of Islington. Filled with antique, vintage and contemporary shops, outdoor markets, cafes, restaurants and bars.

7: Columbia Road Flower Market, E2​

Worth leaving Finchley for. Iconic flower market with plants and garden goods. Open Sundays only from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm ish. 🧺

Events

ARTS

Monday 9th March

​Presentation of the books by Prof. Christo Pimpirev & Iglika Trifonova | Mon, Mar. 9 | 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm | Gallery “Sofia”, Bulgarian Cultural Institute London | Free | Join us at Gallery Sofia for a presentation of the latest books by Professor Christo Pimpirev, scientist and Head of Bulgaria’s Antarctic Expedition, and Iglika Trifonova, writer, photographer and journalist. With the special participation of world-renowned Bulgarian musician and virtuoso kaval performer Theodosii Spassov, who joined the 28th Bulgarian Expedition to Antarctica in 2020.

Tuesday 10th March

​Animation Club | Tue, Mar. 10 | 4:00 pm to 4:45 pm | Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH | £25 | Learn how to make short stop-motion animation films in our eight-week course! You’ll work with other young people and professional tutors to come up with an idea for a film and then bring it to life. The film will be shown as part of a series of short films produced by young people in the Roundhouse Studios.

Saturday 14th March

​Playing with Poetry Masterclass: Wild Words for the Natural World | Sat, Mar. 14 | 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm | artsdepot | £15 | Through playful exercises and inspiring poems, you’ll reimagine language and embody the voices of nature in your writing.

MUSIC

Saturday 14th March

​Gilbert And Sullivan - Your Favourite Operetta Extracts | Sat, Mar. 14 | 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm | St Mary-at-Finchley Parish Church, 26 Hendon Lane, N3 1TR | Entry is free (retiring collection for St Mary-at-Finchley Church and Churchyard Appeal) | Patter songs, plaintive love duets, hilarious plots and much, much, more await you in this 1-hour concert featuring extracts from Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Utopia Limited, Yeomen of the Guard and HMS Pinafore. With Samantha Rowe (soprano), Will Searle (tenor), Carl Gombrich (bass) and Yukiko Osedo (piano).

SHOPPING

Friday 13th March

​Finchley Vintage & Collectables Roadshow | Fri, Mar. 13 | 10:30 am to 2:30 pm | St Paul's Church, 50 Long Ln, N3 2PU | Free | When you arrive, you will receive a warm welcome from the team of vintage experts before your in-person appraisal of your valuables. Simply gather your items together and bring them on the day when there will be experts ready to value your items and offer you a no-obligation cash offer.

KIDS

Wednesday 11th March

​Haft-Sin Trail | Wed, Mar. 11 | Lauderdale House | Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill | N6 5HG | Free | Join everyone in the park and follow the trail to find our hidden eggs, whilst learning about the ingredients for the Haft-sin. Each egg represents an item, and can be discovered by following the clues on the trail map. There are seven new eggs created by seven different artists.

Saturday 14th March

​'Origami Flowers for Someone Special' at Burnt Oak Library | Sat, Mar. 14 | 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm | Watling Avenue, Edgware, HA8 OUB | Free | Create a beautiful gift of origami flowers to celebrate someone special! A craft event for children age 6+.

SUSTAINABILITY

Wednesday 18th March

​Barnet Together for a Greener Future | Wed, Mar. 18 | 6:30 pm | 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, N12 0GA | Free | Are you a resident, local business, school, or community group in Barnet? Join for an inspiring, practical session on creating a greener, more sustainable Barnet.

OLDER PEOPLE

Friday 13th March

Memory Lane | Fri, Mar. 13 | 10:45 am to 1:30 pm | Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall, 373 Bowes Road, Arnos Grove, N11 1AA | £4 | Memory Lane Cafe & Carers Club. For people with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Carers. Every Friday. There will be tea, coffee, biscuits, snacks, cakes, singing, dancing, games, day trips, and weekly entertainers. Please note this is not a drop-off club, and everyone does have to attend with a relative, friend, or carer. Please phone first to book a place email or call Adrian: 07788 429 470 or Mandi: 07961 881 453.

THEATRE

Saturday 7th February

​Barnet and Southgate College x National Theatre - The Animals Performance | Tue, Mar. 17 | 7:00 pm to | Wood Street Campus, EN4 5AZ | Free | Step into a world where survival, loyalty, justice, dreams, and identity collide. The Animals, by Sean Buckley, pulses with raw energy as it follows a tight‑knit group of young people navigating a society that has pushed them to the margins. Sharply observed, and often unsettling, the play explores what happens when the people in charge have stopped listening, and those left out are forced to redefine their own rules, drawing their destinies from stolen dreams.

Events - Book Ahead

Monday 30th March

​Finchley and Mill Hill Finches Easter Camp 2026 | Mon, Mar. 30 | 10:00 am to 3:00 pm | Finchley Cricket Club, E End Rd, N3 2TA | £35 | Join for an action-packed Easter Cricket Camps at Finchley Cricket Club, designed to help children enjoy cricket, love cricket, and grow in confidence - whatever their experience level.

Thursday 16th April

Cold War Aircraft Tour with Age UK Barnet | Thu, Apr. 16 | 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm | RAF Museum, Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL | Free but donations welcome | Join for a thrilling journey into aviation history with our special Cold War Aircraft Tour. Highlights include some of the era's most iconic jets - including the legendary Vulcan, the sleek Vampire, the groundbreaking Meteor, and the formidable Hunter. Email or call 0738 446 6840 to book.

Saturday 25th April

​Kombucha Workshop | Sat, Apr. 25 | 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm | Claremont Road, NW2 1AP | £54.99 | Learn how to make your own delicious kombucha at the hands-on workshop.

Local Lowdown

Preserving

• Pints and popcorn protected. 10 Barnet favourites, like The Lord Nelson, Ye Old Monken Holt, and the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, are now officially Assets of Community Value. This gives locals six months to make a bid if they ever go up for sale - a win for heritage and happy regulars.

Networking

• Barnet’s buzzing. MP Dan Tomlinson launched the new Chipping Barnet Community Action Network (CB:CAN) at Christ Church Barnet on 5 March. The event attracted a crowd of 200 people. The group plans monthly action days. They will spruce up community buildings, green local spaces, and host fun days. These events aim to bring neighbours together across the constituency.

Founding

• Creative foundations are being laid. Work’s begun on a new studio for the Barnet Guild of Artists, part of the Whalebones housing development off Wood Street. The Wellhouse Lane site, opposite Barnet Hospital, will provide local artists with a new home. This comes after they lost their original studio, which was gifted by Gwyneth Cowing, the heiress of Barnet Press.

Playgrounding

• Fresh air fun just levelled up. Halliwick Recreation Ground’s new £275k playground is now open in Muswell Hill. It has swings, monkey bars, a sensory dome, and plenty of picnic spots. The Mayor cut the ribbon after a major community effort and funding boost.

Voting

• Democracy day incoming. On Thursday 7th May, Barnet residents will head to the polls to elect all 63 councillors for the next four years. Each of the 24 wards has 2 or 3 seats up for grabs. Check your poll card, mark your ballots, and make your voice count.​

The Finchleyite: Food Waste Brown Bin

Good news for Barnet households: weekly food waste collections are making a welcome return from 30 March 2026.

It’s a simple change that should make recycling easier, cut down on waste and help more food scraps stay out of general rubbish.

Your food waste brown bin is your new best friend, with weekly pick-ups for every household.

Ahead of the launch, every home will receive a brown 7-litre kitchen caddy for food scraps, a sample roll of 52 liners, a brown outdoor food waste bin, and information on how it all works. Deliveries will take place between January and March, before collections begin.

Do not put your food waste bin out before the week starting 30 March, as collections will only begin on your usual bin day that week.

If the list of accepted food waste items is not clear on your kitchen caddy lid, call 0208 359 4600 or email foodwaste@barnet.gov.uk.

Editors' Note - From Sasha

Great visit to Theatre Picasso at Tate Modern. Love how contemporary artists are curating timeless works. See things through a new lens. Blown away by the animation.

Also, let us know about local events or local news. We curate our content to keep it a 5-minute read, so can't include everything we're sent.

You can now get a guaranteed (paid) listing for local events or local lowdown/news items.

​And email us with any projects or ideas you'd like us to write about.

Tessa Davis Sasha Frieze