London Food & Culture

MUST DO: KXmas four-day festive bash

Along King's Boulevard is a weekend devoted to gifts, yoga, mulled wine, craft-making and partying

Urban Makers East, one of many pop-ups in N1C this week. Photo: PR

Over the last year, King’s Boulevard has transformed from a showroom of empty warehouses – complete with stacks of cinderblocks and dangling poles of sabre-like florescent light – to one of the hottest shopping spots in town.

With snazzy garms from the likes of Carhartt WIP, Jigsaw, & Other Stories now nestled up next to seasonal eatery Maple & King’s and the rows of tanked mannequins pumping their guns in the window of the Nike store, this strip is fast-becoming quite the destination spot for the capital’s spend-a-lots.

To celebrate its new arrivals, the strip is hosting a stonking four-day party with DJs, cocktails, mulled wine, morning yoga and exercises classes (to excuse all those allowances you’ll no doubt be making this month under the auspices that “it’s Christmas”).

Held in a vast pop-up space, events will run throughout the day with the folks from Made in Arts London, Drink Shop Do and Urban Makers East organising a variety of workshops including Christmas crafts, card making and table centre-piece design.


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Pre-empt the season’s over-indulgence. Photo: PR

However, festivities will really kick-off when the sun starts to drop. Today, Wed (29th) Radio Salon & Gallery will be offering makeovers and edgy cuts with music and drinks, on Thurs 30th Everyman will be testing who really knows what it was like to be Home Alone during their Chrimbo quiz, while Friday Dec 1st sees the Spiritland crew dashing the Pogues vinyl out the window and offering up an alternative range of seasonal bangers.

On Saturday night, Independent Labels Market will be bringing the sultry sounds of Buena Vista Social Club to the blustery Boulevard: teamed with a selection of Cuban-inspired cocktails up for grabs, they’re hoping to get us to transform those chattering lips into Havana-ready salsa hips.

Throughout the KXmas celebrations, all stores will be open for extended hours, while a free gift wrapping service will be springing up. This sounds like a pretty perfect time to get the jump on the December-dazed-buying-brigade, naturally with a glass of mulled wine clutched in hand, for um… sparkling creativity.

King’s Boulevard, King’s Cross, N1C. Wed 29th Nov – Sat 2nd Dec. Wed 5-10pm, Thu-Sat 10:30am-10pm. More info here.

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