CULTURE
The Islander Festival
This summer saw socialising and celebration truly back on the agenda with the inaugural Islander Festival
After months of cancelled holidays, postponed weddings and low-key milestone birthdays, getting our social lives back on track was top of the agenda this summer.
To celebrate, London City Island hosted the debut Islander Festival from 28 June until 10 September. The festival began with alfresco screenings of every Wimbledon match throughout the tournament, followed by a series of family-friendly blockbuster movie screenings projected on an enormous 15m-square screen for a truly immersive experience and accompanied by gourmet food and drink options.
The feasting continued with a series of fun outdoor street food markets featuring stalls serving food and drink from across the world. From souvlaki to dumplings, pad thai to hot dogs, the Friday street food markets started summer weekends right, especially with the addition of a roster of live music acts entertaining the crowds. The final market took place on 10 September, when we celebrated the end of The Islander Festival in suitably exuberant style with a special performance from X Factor winner and superstar singer Dalton Harris.
Alfresco food and live music fun on London City Island
In partnership with Urban Food Fest and Ace Events, we ran free and fun street food markets through summer. Many of the markets also featured live music performances from up-and-coming musicians, and then finished with a bang, with that special appearance by X Factor champion Dalton Harris.
Read interviews with many of the musical acts who kept us entertained during our popular street markets here and here.
Dalton Harris spoke to us ahead of his performance at London City Island and you can read the interview here. And see highlights from his sensational performance that brought the lights (and the house) down on The Islander Festival here.
“The Islander Festival invited the finest gourmet food and drink providers to London City Island”
Homestead's outdoor terrace
Don’t forget London City Island’s delicious range of food and drink businesses
The Lockdown Room will open as a permanent site soon, but in the meantime you can swing by the pop-up beach hut for a range of seasonal beverages, including Aperol Spritz, ice coffee, craft beer and Pimm’s.
Another new opening on the Island, coming this autumn, is Soda & Friends, a modern highball-inspired bar from the mind of prolific drinks writer and businessman Nate Brown. Soda & Friends will be serving fruity homemade highball cocktails in cans to thirsty attendees throughout The Islander Festival.
Read more about why London City Island is east London’s new foodie destination on The Islander Journal.
Follow @londoncityislandlife for all the latest news about London City Island and use the hashtag #LondonCityIsland to share your favourite photos – we’ll repost the best pics!
Words by Gemma Billington
