Join 2500+ Finchley curious subscribers so you hear about local news and events before anyone else. Straight to your inbox, a 5 min newsletter 1x/week for free.
Share
🗞️ Why is Finchley a TikTok sensation??
Published 5 days ago • 7 min read
Welcome
Happy Easter 🐣 and happy bank holiday weekend. This week we've got some foodie goodness - TikTok tours and community food growing.
🤳TikTok Tours Through Finchley
Fresh veg from the Persia Supermarket
Is FinchleyTok a thing? We’ve done the research - get ready to scroll through six slice-of-life TikToks serving up Finchley (and the surrounding area) flair, local gems, and cheeky charm!
Here’s your Finchley fix: six TikToks packed with local flavour, laughs, and a few hidden gems – many of them foodie-related. North London’s never looked so scroll-worthy—dive in and get nosy!
Check out this quirky review from Janine - handmade fresh sushi, the fish counter and cupboard fillers at Atariya Food in Temple Fortune.
Finchley Persian Treats
Is Finchley Central mini Tehran? Great music and cute showround of the Persia Supermarket insta – so many delicacies, a fresh bread station and favourites from Tammazloves.
Insane Turkish Feast
Eating with Tod reviews the “insane Turkish feast at Finchely Central’s Izgara – a family owned restaurant for over 25 years. It’s a carnivore’s dream – although the baklava looks scrummy. These are the guys who also bring you Lush Coffee.
Finchley’s Oldest Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
On Cloud Dine reviews Finchley’s Rani serving 40 years of goodness, a family run gem. Authentic Gujrati gems – including banana and methi curry.
Ye Olde Swiss Cottage
Saving the best (review) for last? Pub review from Dead Pubs inside Ye Olde Swiss Cottage Pub – sadly closed in February – brilliant social media.
Fancy a quick virtual wander round the Finchley area? These TikToks are your ticket -quirky spots, classic scenes, and a dash of North London magic.
North London’s calling! These six TikToks bring the Finchley vibes - sassy, scenic, and seriously underrated. Press play and fall in love with the area all over again. 🤳
Events
ARTS
Saturday 26th April
Muswell Hill Creatives Spring Makers Fair | Sat, Apr. 26 | 10:30 am to 5:00 pm | St James Square, Muswell Hill Road, Muswell Hill (outside Planet Organic and the Everyman Cinema) | Free to attend | Come and shop from talented independent artists, designers and makers at our Spring Makers Fair in St James Square in the heart of Muswell Hill.
Awakening - Audio Visual Installation in the Tower | Sat, Apr. 26 | 10:00 am to 6:00 pm | The Intimate Space, High Street, Hornsey, N8 7NT | Free entry | Step into a medieval tower and immerse yourself in Awakening – an audio-visual installation that tells the story of a stranded android on a desolate planet. This one-of-a-kind experience brings together 20 creators, each interpreting Awakening in their own unique way through music, art, 3D animation, storytelling, and poetry.
Creative Writing Group with Will Burns | Sat, Apr. 26 | 11:00 am to 1:00 pm | OmVed Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF | £15 per session/£40 for full course | Discover new creative possibilities in a series of immersive writing workshops with poet Will Burns, where nature and poetry come together to inspire fresh perspectives. Whether you're a seasoned writer or a beginner, these sessions will deepen your connection to place and storytelling.
Monday 28th April
Watercolour Painting | Mon, Apr. 28 | 10:00 am to 12:30 pm | 80 East End Road, N3 2SY | £275 for a 10 week term | This course will provide a practical understanding of the various ways watercolour can be used. It is a chance to explore watercolour in a relaxed and creative environment. Along with more traditional techniques, you will be encouraged to develop your own intuitive direction. Suitable for beginners and those with some experience.
COMMUNITY
Wednesday 23rd April
Men Walking and Talking | Wed, Apr. 23 | 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm | War Memorial Outside St John The Baptist Church | Free | Talk about last night’s football, your deepest demons or both. Or maybe walk with us in silence and just enjoy the company.
SHOPPING
Saturday 26th April
Tabletop Sale at Holly Park Methodist Church | Sat, Apr. 26 | 11:00 am to 4:00 pm | Holly Park Methodist Church, Crouch, Hill N4 4BY | Free entry | The sales will feature a mixture of stall holders selling unique handmade crafts alongside others selling new, vintage & quality preloved items.
Sunday 27th April
Pre-Loved Pop Up Sale | Sun, Apr. 27 | 10:00 am to 3:00 pm | The Birchwood Centre, 171 Fortis Green Road, N10 3BG | Free | Nita Mangan is hosting an amazing Pre Loved Sale at the Birchwood Centre, and The Cherry Tree Cafe will be popping up to serve coffee, cakes, sandwiches and fizz.
THEATRE
Saturday 26th April
Just Between Ourselves by Alan Ayckbourn | Sat, Apr. 26 | 7:30 pm | artsdepot, N12 0GA | From £20 | Five birthdays. Two unhappy marriages. One possessive mother. It is 1976. Dennis tinkers in his garage, cheerfully indifferent to wife Vera’s impending breakdown. Marjorie hovers in the background, making tea and finding fault. Neil has planned a birthday surprise for his wife, but Pam doesn’t share his enthusiasm, preoccupied by frustrations of her own.
SPORT
Thursday 1st May
Over 50s F.I.T Jam Dance Class | Thu, May. 01 | 11:00 am to 12:00 pm | Millfield Theatre, Silver Street, Edmonton, N18 1PJ | Free | Join an uplifting Dance and Mind Fit session for your mind, body & soul led by international Presenter, Mind Fit movement coach and celebrity trainer Faye Edwards. This session is specially designed for over 50s, It’s your time to shine
Sunday 4th May
Women's Football - Camden Town WFC vs Hammersmith | Sun, May. 4 | 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm | The Maurice Rebak Stadium, Summers Lane, N12 0PD | Free of Charge | Please join us at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, N12 0PD for a top-of-the-table clash between Camden Town WFC and Hammersmith, in the Greater London Women's Football League. It'll be a fantastic day out, with some high-quality women's football on show. Come down and support Camden Town to victory.
Events - Book Ahead
Monday 23rd June
Golders Hill and Its Glorious Trees | Mon, Jun. 23 | 10:30 am | Golders Hill Park Cafe, NW3 7HD | £15 | David Humphries, Arboricultural Manager for Hampstead Heath will lead us around Golders Hill Park and will introduce us to some of the specimen and unusual trees, both native and introduced for which Golders Hill is notable.
Saturday 28th June
Wild Willow Children's Art Club | Sat, Jun. 28 | 10:30 am to 12:15 am | OmVed Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard London, N6 5JF | £18 Single session/Full program £81 | Let your child’s creativity bloom in the Wild Willow Art Club, a hands-on, nature-inspired art series at OmVed Gardens. Designed for children aged 6 to 12, this fun and engaging club explores seasonal themes through artistic activities using natural materials.
Wednesday 9th July
Next Stop, Finchleystrasse! | Wed, Jul. 9 | 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm | JW3, 341-351 Finchley Rd, NW3 6ET | £12 | Join journalist Etan Smallman for a colourful history of the Finchley Road and learn how influential and important it was for European Jews from the 1930s onwards. Thousands of refugees from Nazi Europe got to work rebuilding their lives – as well as their continental coffee houses, restaurants, social clubs, bookshops and cabarets – along Finchley Road. So many, in fact, that bus conductors would yell "Next stop, Finchleystrasse!" as they approached.
Local Lowdown
The map at Finchley Central
Designing
Underground treasure hunt. Finchley Central station houses a framed copy of Harry Beck's revolutionary 1933 Tube map on its southbound platform. Beck, a local resident, transformed London's Underground map by prioritising clarity over geography. A plaque honours his legacy at what was his regular station. Though ironically, Finchley Central wasn't even on his original design.
Timing
Tick-tocking in style. The legendary Cricklewood Broadway clock is back, sporting a fresh Art Nouveau makeover by local artist Marco Ferrara. Thanks to a splash of prosperity funding, the revamped clock mixes historic charm with modern flair.
Daming
Political accolade alert. Former Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has a new title. She was named Dame Commander in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours. She was already spotted campaigning in Whetstone as "Dame on the doorstep."
Footballing
History kicks off. Jack Cother, the UK's first Asian professional footballer, nearly had a London Overground line named after him. The Watford FC player from 1897 was on TfL's longlist for the recent renaming scheme. While the "Cother line" didn't make the final team sheet, his pioneering legacy lives on with a plaque at Vicarage Road Stadium.
Saving
Solar revolution hits local classrooms. One school in Barnet, 3 in Enfield and 2 in Haringey are included in Sadiq Khan's £2.9m 'Greener Schools' initiative. The eco-upgrades include solar panels, heat pumps, improved insulation, and LED lighting. Councils are adding £9.6m to the funding. This money could cut energy bills by almost £15,000 for each school.
Finchleyite: Community Food Growing
Working together to grow our own food is great for our health and wellbeing, lighter on your pocket, and good for the planet.
Across Barnet, residents and communities are coming together to grow their own food.
Barnet’s 8-week Community Food Growing Leadership training is especially designed for anyone who works or volunteers in a community setting, such as a food bank, school, community centre, etc with an existing or potential food growing space.
This training will provide you with knowledge and experience of how to establish and run a community food growing space, with drop-in sessions and an 8-week training course, take your pick. A great way to connect with their neighbours, enjoy some of Barnet’s wonderful green spaces and eat tasty food. Find out more and/or apply now.
And email us with any projects or ideas you'd like us to write about.
Tessa Davis
Sasha Frieze
Finchley Now
Get connected to our local community
Join 2500+ Finchley curious subscribers so you hear about local news and events before anyone else. Straight to your inbox, a 5 min newsletter 1x/week for free.
Welcome This week we've got everything tree-related in Finchley, a peek inside Liz Taylor's Hampstead mansion and Passover greetings including a great gluten-free cake recipe. And Spring is in the air. 🌳 Tree's Company, Finchley This post inspired by the view from my window - perfect blossom today From secret arboretums to a pocket-sized forest and a digital tree-tracker, Finchley’s leafy life is thriving in surprising and delightful ways. Tiny Forest, Mighty Impact Tucked along Mutton Brook,...
Welcome This week we've got our local chef who won the Great British Menu, and the exciting line-up for The Proms at St Jude's. 🏆 From Michelin Star To School Dinners: Our Champion Chef Amber Francis on the Great British Menu Last week, Amber Francis was crowned champion of champions on BBC's Great British Menu. Unlike previous contestants such as Marcus Wareing and Jason Atherton, whose Michelin-starred restaurants benefited from the show's exposure, Francis has chosen a different path....
Welcome This week we've got delicious local vegan options and another showcase from Finchley's most myterious artist. Plus two great community projects from the Tiny Forest and Archer Academy. 🌱 Our Local Vegan Vibe More Finchley residents are trying plant-based eating. So, we wanted to explore vegan options for our community. We couldn't find any in Finchley itself, but here are 3 that are close by (and a 4th that you won't want to miss) One of the 8 beautiful courses at Plates London 1:...
