Virtual carnival, theatre and art: What's on this weekend in Islington and Hackney

Last year the event, which takes place in September, moved online due to the pandemic but it still managed to attract 60,000 interactions worldwide.

As London's second biggest carnival it would normally bring 80,000 visitors to Hackney and involve a street parade of sound systems and dance processions, celebrating diversity and culture in the borough.

Instead, Saturday (September 18) is sound system day from 6pm to 12pm.

You're invited to immerse yourself in an eclectic programme of carnival sounds featuring DJs from sound systems and carnival floats.

Artists include Solution Sound System (dub reggae), Community Hifi (reggae dancehall) and Soca Saga Boys DJs (Soca), with special guest Aba Shanti-I.

Then Sunday (September 19), Hackney Carnival veteran presenter Pax Nindi of Global Carnivalz, will host a programme of performances, films, interviews and competitions.

Highlights include a soca challenge, carnival groups, bands and musicians including Alex Dayo, Scrappy, Jah Bunny, Stamford Hillbillies, Kasai Masai, Bob Health, Miss Trendee and KGJ – Sax Shuffle Feat, with special guest Ata Kak.

The event will be live streamed from the Hackney Carnival Facebook page.

Hackney Empire show

Stars of the smash-hit podcast ‘The Socially Distant Sports Bar’ are be taking their show on the road for the first time this autumn, embarking on a seven-date UK tour which kicks off at the Hackney Empire on Saturday (September 18).

Comedians Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero discuss big sporting stories like wooing an optician with a camping stove in Bath, having lunch with Joe Frazier and Nigel Havers in a hotel near Maesteg, the social history of Carmarthernshire from 1895 to 1915 and X-rated trips to Wimbledon in the 1980s.

The show at the Empire will be the very first time they will all be in the same room together.

The tour will also visit Salford, Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Birmingham, before culminating in Belfast on November 13.

Steff Garrero said: “We can’t wait to get out there and do these live shows. The listeners have been asking for us to take it on the road for a long time and now we finally get to meet them in real life.

"Going to Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland to do a different show every night is really exciting - all of the shows are going to be one off, unique moments and that’s pretty special.”

See hackneyempire.co.uk for tickets.

Last chance to catch Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia at the Almeida

The setting is 1943. four months into the Nazi occupation of Tunisia.

Two couples – one Muslim and one Jewish – are trying to survive war and marriage, and save themselves from a Nazi named Grandma.

Saturday (September 18) offers the last chance to catch the theatre show, Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia, at the Almeida – a comic and heart breaking new play by Josh Azouz about home, identity and survival.

At the time, Jewish men were being set to work in labour camps, Muslim Arabs were being tempted to collaborate with the occupiers by the promise of throwing off their French colonial past, and the state of Israel did not yet exist.

The show at the theatre in Almeida Street runs at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday, with a matinee at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Prices range from £43.50 to £10. See almeida.co.uk.

Take in some art in Archway with Shauna Cribbin's first exhibition

Shauna Cribbin presents a series of large-scale steel screenprints and tire disco ball sculptures at her exhibition which launches on Saturday at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation.

A Little Bit of Sugar explore themes of escapism, aspiration and hope for working-class women.

The show's title is an extract from sociologist Lisa Mckenzie’s book Getting By, which explores austerity Britain and has apparently been a major influence to Shauna.

The book explores how the poor in the UK have been increasingly stigmatised over the last 30 years, and how the cultural and symbolic aspects of being working class today are as significant to inequality as the economic circumstances which produce it.

The show runs at the art studio in Elthorne Road, Archway until October 2, and is open from 10am to 6pm Thursday to Sunday.

Free yoga and nature walks for young people with additional needs

The first in a series of free yoga and nature walks in Islington parks for children and young adults with additional needs takes place on Saturday (September 18).

Organised by the Islington-based charity MahaDevi Yoga Centre in partnership with Caledonia Park Heritage Centre and Gillespie Park Ecology Centre, the events will consist of a guided walk around the park and a yoga class, and a break for a snack.

The first one takes place at 11am on Saturday at Gillespie Park Eco Centre in Gillespie Road, with further events taking place on October 9 and 23 October and November 13.

Chief executive of the MahaDevi Yoga Centre said: "The idea is to engage the children with walking, build their confidence around walking in nature and demonstrate that it can be a cheap, fun and healthy way of spending time.

"Meanwhile, the yoga class will teach the children stretching and breathing exercises, which will bring benefits to their physical and mental wellbeing."

The events are free of charge but booking is essential. Email info@mahadevicentre.com.