Santa will be making himself at ho-ho-home in the grotto at Slade Gardens Adventure Playground this Saturday, 6 December. And if a sighting of Mr Claus himself isn't enough, there will be free crafts and activities for kids, including rabbit petting. The inspiring community behind SW9's treasured urban park is pouring its collective creative juices into five festive fun-filled hours for all the family, with an exciting range of stalls selling everything from hotdogs and cake to homewares and candles.

Silas Armstrong Silas Armstrong, who for two and a half years worked both as a singer and as marketing manager for the Brixton Chamber Orchestra, is getting back together with the BCO over the festive season. He has been working on his own projects, including headlining at The Bedford in Balham and performing at a festival with Peter Andre and B*Witched – “not names I'd ever expected to share a line up with!” he says.

Reload Brixton’s Ritzy cinema rolls out the red carpet on Friday (5 December) to celebrate the best and brightest talent among local young filmmakers. Organised by the Ascension Agency and other local production companies and film collectives, the young stars will be competing for Best Feature, Best Short Film and Best Documentary in the Festival. “And the nominees are …” Hot on the heels of its world premiere, best feature is…

A long-awaited vision for Windrush Square is gathering pace, as plans to convert the derelict former public toilets, closed for decades, into a dynamic new arts bar take a significant step forward. At a recent meeting of the Windrush Square Arts Bar Working Group, held at Squire & Partners’ Ferndale Road headquarters, Ros Griffiths, chair of Friends of Windrush Square and of the working group, described a key discussion with Lambeth council’s chief executive Ian Davis as “positive and productive”.

Lambeth town hall in Brixton will host the Brixton Community Gospel Choir’s annual Christmas concert on 11 December. A Gospel Christmas! Promises a special evening of music, celebration, and community in true Brixton style – with powerful gospel harmonies, uplifting carols, and joyful praise, all performed by local voices united in song and celebration. “This concert is more than just a performance – it’s a heartfelt celebration of hope, love, and the joy of Christmas,” say the choir.

Brixton Village launched its Christmas season today (29 November) with Santa and an elfin helper, plus the Wonder Window – celebrating the mix of gifts and celebratory buys on offer in the Granville Arcade and Market Row. A special attraction for each weekend in December before Christmas will be the Wrap Bar, offering a free gift-wrapping service for every BrixtonVillage purchase with wrapping designed by artist 

Fusion Lifestyle, which runs Brockwell Lido, yesterday (28 November) declined to respond to requests from the Blog for details of a meeting over a £13m loan that it is trying to renegotiate. A spokesperson said that the loan – which is due to be repaid in May 2026 – was just one issue that the organisation, which runs a total of about 60 leisure facilities, was dealing with.

Fans of Acre Lane’s Aries bakery will be excited to see its signature focaccia recipe included in a mouth-watering new cookbook, launched this week. Order Up is a compilation of recipes from some of London’s most popular cafés and restaurants, whose sales will benefit hospitality workers in the UK, via the charity Hospitality Action.  The book is divided into North, South, East and West.

As part of the London Migration Film Festival, Brixton’s Ritzy cinema is hosting a series of illuminating workshops on migration Upstairs this Saturday and Sunday, 29 and 30 November. Three different events on both afternoons aim to shed factual light on one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented preoccupations of our time.  Ahmad “Kwiz” Wonly (above) came to the UK from Burundi three years ago with only the clothes he stood up in and has been living on potatoes and frozen burgers in a migrant hotel in West Drayton ever since, while he waits for a decision on his asylum status.

Local residents, gardening experts and members of local volunteer groups last night (25 November) braved the cold and dark to plant bulbs to bloom in spring in Brixton’s Max Roach Park. They also gave the still-growing lavender maze in the park some TLC. The night gardeners came from Father Nature – who oversaw the planting of the maze – Lambeth Parks, Goo dGym,  Friends of Max Roach Park, North Brixton Big Local, and 

Reflections of Brixton is an innovative and exciting  two-day exhibition bringing together over 20 artists whose work reflects the stories, textures and contradictions of Brixton. Spanning painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media and assemblage, the show brings into view both the everyday and the unexpected - from foxes moving through the city at night to the layered histories embedded in local packaging and markets. Highlights include Marco Adlington’s atmospheric wildlife painting; Arabella Yapp’s portrait of Brixton Market; and Jo Gibbs’ What a Waste assemblages made from Brixton packaging, food and garden waste, and found materials.

Closed: the pioneering Dogstar venue on Atlantic Road – formerly the famous Atlantic pub A leading Brixton business owner today (24 November) called for urgent action over the “total collapse of hospitality” in the area and listed many recent closures. Hammant Patel Villa – whose own long-running Atlantic Road restaurant Courtesan will close at the end of the year – said that, just last week, Atlantic Road Bakeries, Ohlala!, Happy Dumplings and Kraft had closed, followed by the landmark Prince of Wales site at the weekend.

Lambeth council’s licensing sub-committee (LSC) has agreed that the Admiral slot machine gambling “casino” in the centre of Brixton can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Admiral, at 510 Brixton Road, near McDonald’s, is now the second establishment with such a licence in the town centre. The other is Game Nation at 371 Brixton Road near the junction with Stockwell Road.

Father Nature and Brixton Business Improvement District (BID) volunteers after planting the maze in April 2023 Friends of Max Roach Park are planning an evening of hands-on work in their continuing campaign to revive the green space along Brixton Road immediately north of the town centre. From 7 to 8pm on Tuesday (25 November) local residents will be joined by volunteers from…

Sub-zero zero temperatures in Brixton last night (20 November), did not stop the jerk sellers cooking up some hot stuff outside the Academy. Inside, controversial hip-hop duo Clipse were playing a sellout gig to 5,000 fans. Their music has sometimes been labelled “coke rap” for its open promotion of drugs. But more recently Malice – now known as No Malice – and part of the duo along with Pusha T, has embraced Christianity.

Simone Richardson took a short walk down Brixton Road to donate clothes and money to a Jamaica hurricane appeal event at Jamm – and danced with many others to famous Mi-Soul DJs and more MC Brandy – Afrochick “The response to Aid for Jamaica and Dancing for Jamaica has been phenomenal,” says Linden Cambridge, who, with his partner Rachel-Elizabeth Mitchell, organised the donation campaign and music events. “When the events in Jamaica unfolded, our first thought was that the government was doing next to nothing to help. So we decided that if those in power wouldn’t act, we would.

The Congregation by Rudy Loewe, the new artwork at Brixton Underground station, was unveiled this morning. Echoing the bold and colourful style of comics and illustrations, and drawing upon interviews and archival research, it is a collection of scenes which celebrate the people, places and events which make up Brixton’s character and rich history. Alongside snippets of daily life, there are stories of resistance and campaigns, of Caribbean culture, and of spirituality and faith. It is a vibrant tapestry which records the highs and lows - and the some of less well-known parts - of the life and times of the Brixton.

Homeless people protesting at Lambeth Council offices The most vulnerable homeless households in Lambeth will be prioritised for temporary accommodation in the borough under a review of the system for allocating the dwindling supply of available housing, the council said today (19 November). It has proposed a series of changes to its Placement Policy, in the face a huge increase in spending on housing homeless families in temporary accommodation (TA), which now costs the council more than £100m a year.

John-Paul Ennis with students at Brixton's Ark Evelyn Grace academy last year A Brixton councillor, John-Paul Ennis, was named Young Councillor of the Year at the Cllr Awards organised by the LGIU, an independent, not-for-profit organisation working to strengthen local democracy around the world. Winners in each category of the awards have all made positive and lasting impacts on the lives of their constituents and have shown exceptional leadership skills, LGIU said.

The magnificent Streatham Hill Theatre – which faces a plan to turn it into a church – will host the Brixton Chamber Orchestra (BCO) on its annual Christmas tour of Lambeth this year. BCO will play 11 free gigs across the borough, mainly in social housing estates, presenting a seasonal setlist with a full orchestra – from classical and grime to disco, pop and jazz, as well as festive favourites.

Brockwell lido Brockwell Lido could face “an extended period of closure” if a new body needs to take over its management, the chair of the Brockwell Lido Users group (BLU) warned today (16 November). Ben Longman was speaking at the annual general meeting of BLU at the lido. The meeting heard from a senior manager of Fusion Lifestyle, which currently runs the lido, that its future management depends on a meeting with bankers at the end of this month.

The annual general meeting of the Brockwell Lido Users Committee (BLSC) takes place tomorrow (16 November) at the lido. The committee has representatives of organisations with an interest in the lido, including Brockwell Park Community Partners, Friends of Brockwell Park and Brockwell Lido Users Group, as well as Fusion Lifestyle, the organisation that runs the lido which it leases from Lambeth council.

The aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in Montego Bay. US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Merchak via Alamy The dance music community of London and beyond is coming to Brixton on Sunday (16 November) to raise funds for the relief of victims of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. The category 5 storm, the strongest to have hit the island in modern times, killed at least 45 people, with many still missing, and it is believed that 30,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Chris French Chris French, founder of Lambeth Links, the LGBTQIA+ community forum for the borough, is stepping down as chair. His successor, Christopher Wellbelove, said that, thanks to Chris’s leadership, “Lambeth Links is no longer just an idea, it’s a living, growing organisation with huge potential.” Chris French, who has been a well known and integral part of Lambeth's LGBTQ+ community for many years, founded Lambeth Links in 2021 with a bold vision: to create a space where LGBTQIA+ people in Lambeth could organise, advocate and celebrate together.