5 Exciting Things To Celebrate Black History Month

Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black culture and communities. This year you can do that through exciting community kitchen pop-ups, a bookshop championing Caribbean literature, and a VR experience that lets you go toe-to-toe with Muhammed Ali. 

But why stop there? Show your appreciation year-round and support London’s excellent Black-owned restaurants.

Kick Things Off With A Weekend Full Of Eating

photo credit: Emily Hai

From 5th to 8th October, Black Eats LDN are bringing the best of Black-owned businesses to Hackney’s Bohemia Place for a weekend full of street food, cocktails, and DJ sets. Personally, we’d plan our day a little something like this: freshly pressed sugar cane juice to start, then tick off swordfish burgers, pop a couple of saltfish fritters, go to town on a spicy pepper prawn bowl, and then roll ourselves to the station.

Go Back In Time For The Rumble In The Jungle

You might roll up to Brixton Library on Friday 13th, but you’ll be whisked back to Muhammed Ali’s famous 1974 Rumble In The Jungle fight with George Foreman. The virtual reality headset experience reimagines what could have taken place in Ali’s dressing room minutes before the fight and gives an insight into Ali. It’s completely free, you just have to register. And yes, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” should be your Instagram caption.

Eat At Some Of Our Favourite Black-Owned Restaurants

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

From Guyanese brilliance in Elephant and Castle to Ethiopian excellence in Holloway, and some of London’s best doughnuts in Shoreditch. You'll never run out of amazing Black-owned restaurants to try in London, but the places on this guide are our mainstays. Whether you want great-value takeout jollof rice or an experimental, deconstructed egusi stew, there's a restaurant for you.

In The Words Of Mother RuPaul: The Library Is Open

photo credit: Wolkite Kifto Restaurant & Cafe

Expand your reading this October, because—brace yourself—there’s more to life than the takeaway pamphlets stuffed through your letterbox and the book your mum gifted you last Christmas that remains untouched. New Beacon Books was the UK’s first Black publisher, and they were the first to specialise in African and Caribbean literature. Friendly staff are more than happy to guide you to your next read and the bookshop in Finsbury Park also has a number of events throughout the year. From chats with authors, to screenings, and children’s book readings—you should keep visiting this spot beyond October. It’s also just a 20-minute stroll from Wolkite, an Ethiopian restaurant with superb lamb ribs.

Community Kitchens For All

photo credit: Kingswood Arts

Kingswood Arts, between Gipsy Hill and Sydenham Hill, have pulled out all the stops for Black History Month this year. Every Tuesday in October the community kitchen will celebrate a different cuisine—from Nigeria, Jamaica, Ghana, and Trinidad. It’s free entry and the food is free too. All you have to do is reserve a spot ahead of time. But do it soon—it’s expected to be full of people swapping stories over egusi soup and local chefs jostling for space.