Download the Festival Comms Pack – including posters, leaflets, banners, and ready-to-use social media graphics and captions – to help spread the word about the Tower Hamlets Power of Food Festival!
Power of Food Festival is a 10-day festival across Tower Hamlets – celebrating the borough’s community and food cultures, and showcasing local projects building fairer, more sustainable food systems.
There will be inspiring, thought-provoking and delicious events including community meals, supper clubs, workshops, film screenings, photography exhibitions, kids’ activities, panel discussions, and tours of gardens and food-growing spaces, including a farm based in Sussex that grows food for the borough.
This festival invites us to think about the unique power of food. It is at the heart of our lives, connecting us to our communities, cultures and ancestors. It links to how we care for ourselves and others. The festival also invites us to think about how we can take power into our own hands and reclaim our food system – so it has the interests of people and the environment at its heart. Together we can learn new food skills, connect across our heritages, faiths and cultures, and build alternative ways of growing, buying, and sharing food. Through food, we can build community power and push for change.
festival Events
POWER OF FOOD FESTIVAL OPENING EVENT
Thursday 18th, 17:30-20:30
Tower Hamlets Town Hall, E1 1BJ
Join us to mark the beginning of a 10 day celebration of community, food, and action in Tower Hamlets. This opening event will spotlight inspiring grassroots initiatives across the borough and spark important conversations about how to build a fairer, more sustainable local food system. With Wen
Mobile Arts Installation, on a converted food trailer
Friday 19th – Sunday 28th 10:00-16:00
Stepney City Farm, E1 3DG
We have converted an old coffee trailer into a vessel that holds our dreams for food and land justice in Tower Hamlets! The trailer asks you to think about the past, present and future of food justice: to recall your food memories, to ponder what access to food and land looks like today, and to dream about better systems of the future. Our trailer is currently parked at Stepney City Farm, and we hope you come along and add your mark to its growing tapestry. We are closed on Mondays. |
With Platform
FULL ENGLISH
Launch event: Friday 19th, 17:30-19:00
Exhibition: September 15th to October 5th, Mon-Sun 09:00-15:00
Poplar Union, E14 6TL
The Full English explores the food cultures of the Muslim community and how both traditional English and international cuisines have become incorporated into their daily lives. More details here.
The launch will include a film screening, short talk and networking.
With artist Nurull Islam
Power of Food portrait exhibition
12th September – 14th October, St Paul’s Way Community Centre
18th – 28th September, Rich Mix
18th – 30th September, Tower Hamlets Town Hall
A portrait exhibition celebrating the community at the forefront of the food movement in Tower Hamlets. From mushroom growing, to community gardens, to city farms, to food coops – meet the people taking power into their own hands and creating the food system they want to see. With Wen
Perpetual Stew
Friday 19th to Wednesday 24th, 1100-1600 and 1830-2100
House of Annetta, E1 6QH
Perpetual stew is a week of events exploring knowledge justice and spatial justice. Events include discussions, screenings, workshops and walks on land ownership, food, housing, climate, and health in our local community and beyond.
Bring a vegetable for the everlasting pot of stew, simmered day and night.
DAYTIME: Visit the exhibition, free lunch,
teas and juices made from foraged, fermented, found and donated ingredients.
EVENING: Share your ingredient, a volunteer team of cooks chop it up and add it to the pot. Then, skill-shares, discussions, plotting, dreaming, followed by a collective feast.
With House of Annetta
Boil & Bubble Family Cook-alongs
Friday 19th, 1545 – 1700
Monday 22nd, 1545 – 1700
Friday 26th, 1545 – 1700 (Early years children)
Teviot Centre, E14 6QD
Sensory cook-a-long workshops for children and families! Boil & Bubble will host three after-school cook along events for children and families to come and make some delicious dishes prepared using surplus produce and things from our community kitchen garden at Bowden Primary. For children and families.
With Boil & Bubble
London Harvest festival
Saturday 20th, 10:00-17:00
Mudchute Farm, E14 3HP
A livestock, horticulture and home produce show for London’s City Farms & Community Gardens. Includes a horticulture competition, heritage tour of Mudchute Farm and more.
Bethnal Green NAture reserve: Tour of new food garden
Saturday 20th, 11:00-12.00
Bethnal Green Ecology Garden, E2 9RR
Visit this new green space which is being transformed into a thriving garden rooted in collaboration, urban food growing, and ecology. It’s a garden not just about planting vegetables — but about nurturing life in all its forms. Meet at meet at the entrance to the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve.
Folx Farm F.A.F Open Day
Saturday 20th, 11:00-16:00
Folx Farm, TN36 4AH
The open day will include a guided tour of the farm and introduction to the Food Access Fund (FAF) project and growing space. It will be fun and relaxed, including a group lunch and an opportunity to get inspired, share concepts around food justice and rest and reflect with others in nature. Travel to the site included.
With Folx Farm
Chai-chana time
Saturday 20th, 14:00-16:00
Arts One, Queen Mary, E1 4PD
Come and join us for Chanachur making, Masala chai tasting and Carrom board playing. Find about a popular British Bengali street food snack, hot drink and game. Get to know you neighbours in Tower Hamlets, the Swadhinta Trust is based at Queen Mary University of London, and we welcome you! With Swadhinata Trust
Fermenting Futures
Saturday 20th, 14:00-16:30
House of Annetta, E1 6QH
A participatory workshop using kimchi making and storytelling to interrogate East and South East Asian food sovereignty and climate organising, using slow fermentation as a metaphor and tool to interrogate cultures of resistance to social injustice. Afterwards, attendees will collectively discuss and reflect on how selected poems, writings, and revolutionary readings and stories relate to everyday, existing local food practices and sustainability projects.
With Green Lions
Community Ecologies - Forage & Preserve: Wild Food Skills for Urban Ecology
Saturday 20th, 15:00-16:00
Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, E2 9RR
A hands-on workshop where you’ll explore the edible urban abundance growing all around us.. Learn how to identify, harvest, and preserve wild plants, while discovering how urban foraging can support both ecological health and creative home cooking. With Bethnal Green Nature Reserve
Places are limited to 10 participants. Book in advance by emailing info@bethnalgreennaturereserve.org
Boodle Karaoke!
Sunday 21st, 17:00-21:00
Pelican House, E1 5QJ
A celebration of Filipino food and culture, a play on two very important parts of every Filipino fiesta: eating and singing. Inspired by the Filipino Kamayan tradition where people eat with their hands, food plated on banana leaves. The addition of a Karaoke with everyone singing their hearts out belting their favourite tunes creates a fun, festive atmosphere that’s uniquely Filipino. With United Domestic Workers Association
Magic of Microbes
Sunday 21st, 14:00-16:00
Thursday 25th, 14:00-16:00
R-Urban, Brion Place, E14 0SP
We’ll explore the invisible life that exists all around and within us – starting with our own personal gut microbiome, drawing parallels with the soil microbiome. We’ll look at what happens when we harness microbes to transform our food waste, and why locally grown food is good for gut bacteria.
With Mad Leap
Power of Food film screenings
Sunday 21st, 14:00-17:00
Whitechapel Gallery, E1 7QX
Join Just FACT Mobiliser Hussina Raja for a screening of films exploring food and climate issues from a global and local perspective including Hoodforts – Chicken, Changing Tastes, Climate Companions and Any Time Money. This will be followed by a special screening of London Boys – exploring Bangladeshi culture and identity in Tower Hamlets. With Wen
Power of Fairtrade: Food, Stories and Communities
Monday 22nd, 16:00-18:00
Tower Hamlets Town Hall, E1 1BJ
A presentation of tasty, nutritional and easy-to-prepare snack and meal options using ethically-sourced Fairtrade ingredients.
With Tower Hamlets Fairtrade Partnership
Forgotten FEAST Supper CLUB
Monday 22nd, 18:00-21:00
Limborough Food Hub, E14 7AW
The Forgotten Feast combines a supper club and cooking class. Led by a professional chef, it’s a great way to meet new people, learn culinary skills, and support a London youth food charity. For young people aged 16+
With Eat Club
Recipes for life - stories of heritage, migration & motherhood
Tuesday 23th, 12:00-1400
Women’s Inclusive Team, Mayfield House, E2 9LJ
The Recipes of Life is a culturally rooted therapeutic approach that uses cooking and storytelling to help groups witness each other’s skills, strengths, values, and hopes. Through the sharing of recipes and food, we celebrate individual and collective identities by reflecting on culture, heritage, and faith. Women from the Somali and Bangladeshi communities invite you to join them for a taster of delicious dishes and an opportunity to hear their recipes and the stories behind them. Women only.
With Women’s Inclusive Team & Bangladeshi Mental Health Forum’s Women’s group & Tower Hamlets Community Psychology Team.
Our World, Our Wellness
Tuesday 23th, 11:00-15:00
Teviot Centre, E14 6QD
A celebration / showcase of local food co-operation, gardening for wellbeing, and sustainable food practices. With contributions from community leaders, food justice practitioners, gardeners, and youth. With Leaders in Community
- 11-4 Community Organic Food Co-op open
- 11-12 Garden Tour & Tasters
- 12-1 Be.Green Cookbook Launch & Lunch
- 1-3 Food Lives Creative Workshop
Spitalfields City Farm
Wednesday 24th, 10:00-16:00
Spitalfields City Farm, E1 5AR
A day of events to highlight the role food and cooking plays in Bangladeshi and Asian culture. There will be a harvesting, cooking and eating session, a Q+A session with the growers, a Farm 2 Fork session led by our education team, and tours of the Farm’s growing spaces.
Food as infrastructure: Universal Basic Services and Community Wealth Building
Wednesday 24th, 11:30-14:00
The Teviot Centre, E14 6QD
How can food systems be reimagined as part of the foundational infrastructure of a caring society? A discussion exploring how Universal Basic Services (UBS) could offer a framework for embedding food within broader public service ecosystems – from school meals and emergency provision to community kitchens, cooperatives, and publicly supported agriculture. Includes free lunch from 1-2pm.
With The Autonomy Institute & Tower Hamlets Food Partnership. The event will be illustrated by Ellis Lewis-Dragstra.
ARomas from a distant land
Wednesday 24th, 11:00-15:00
Limborough Food Hub, E14 7AW
Immerse yourself in the enchanting scents of a faraway land. A shared cooking experience and meal led by the women growers at Limborough, sharing ancestral recipes using vegetables grown in the garden like Khudoo. Women only.
DAWAT: CElebration!
Thursday 25th, 10:30-14:30
Oitij-jo Craft Unit, Unit 3, Lighterman House, E14 2BB
A workshop and shared meal to celebrate the role of food in our lives – bringing us together across communities, sharing memories, forming new paths. Join us to celebrate food in all its forms.
With Oitij-jo Collective, photo Farihah Chowdhury
R-Urban green skills volunteering
Thursday 25th, 11:00-1500
R-Urban, Brion Place, E14 0SP
Join Katrina to learn new gardening and green skills. Free veggie, halal lunch!
With R-Urban Poplar
Swedenborg square Orchard
Thursday 25th, 12:00-17:00
Swedenborg Square Orchard, E1 8HR
An open community event with harvested crops from summer, a pickling workshop,
refreshments, and plant swaps.
With Swedenborg Orchard
Recipes for life - stories of migration & Brotherhood
Thursday 25th, 12:00-1400
Praxis, E2 0EF
The Recipes of Life is a culturally rooted therapeutic approach that uses cooking and storytelling to help groups witness each other’s skills, strengths, values, and hopes. Through the sharing of recipes and food, we celebrate individual and collective identities by reflecting on culture, heritage, and faith. Join us for a taster of delicious dishes and an opportunity to hear people’s recipes and the stories behind them, and to purchase the GIANTS’ Recipes of Life Cookbook. We will also be discussing the relationship between men’s mental health, food and wellbeing.
With PRAXIS/GIANTS Men’s Group & Tower Hamlets Community Psychology Team
TEVIOT FOOD COOP
Thursday 25th, 12:00-16:00
Teviot Centre, E14 6QD
Selling affordable, organic fresh fruit and vegetables, drop-in and fill those baskets!
With Leaders in Community
Community Harvest Festival Celebration
Thursday 25th, 12:30-16:00
Stepney City Farm, E1 3DG
The celebration will include a community meal, a herbal workshop, a tour around the farm and food growing areas, and stalls from women involved in Ocean Women’s Association. The lunch requires a booking, otherwise just drop by!
With Stepney City Farm & Ocean Women’s Association
Practicing community-led food justice
Thursday 25th, 14:00-15:30
Stepney City Farm, E1 3DG
What could Tower Hamlets look like in 50 years if we had a community-led food system? This is the question we, the Blueprint Architects, have been asking ourselves for the past five years. This journey has led us to a political understanding of food justice as inextricable from questions of capitalism and land ownership. And so, we want a piece of land for our local communities. Come along to this workshop with the Blueprint Architects and our converted ‘food justice trailer’, and join our land campaign. Let’s plan for radical futures in Tower Hamlets together. |
With Platform
How It Feels: Navigating Community Food Support
Thursday 25th, 15:30-17:30
Oxford House, E2 6HG
Have you ever found yourself seeking support from a community food space? Do you volunteer, work, or help shape policy in this area? This event is a space to reflect on what it feels like to access food support, what makes it feel consistent and respectful, and what matters most—beyond the food itself. Together, we’ll explore what’s working well, what could be better, and how we can learn from each other through honest, supportive dialogue. With Rachel Bencheckroun of Fair Food Futures UK, Zoe Miles of Tower Hamlets Food Partnership. Illustrations will be created by Ellis Lewis-Dragstra.
StoNE SOUP AT R-URBAN
Thursday 25th, 16:00-19:00
R-Urban, Brion Place, E14 0SP
Inspired by the ancient European folk tale, in which hungry strangers convince people to each share an ingredient to make a collective meal, we’ll prepare a soup that is more than the sum of its parts. Bring along an ingredient that has a personal story – this might be something that speaks to your idea of community, your relationship with food and everyday life. Collectively we’ll prepare a delicious feast and discuss the future of food in Poplar.
With R-Urban Poplar
The stories we serve
Thursday 25th, 19:00-21:30
Kingsley Hall, E3 3HJ
Have you ever argued about whose Biriyani is better? Is it Hyderabadi? Is it Karachi? Is it Punjabi? Even though all of South Asia has this dish the variations are truly fascinating. Join us in exploring the many regional styles of biryani across South Asia, and what these differences tell us about food, history and identity. With The Scene
Plenty For The People: exploring ways to build community wealth
Friday 26th, 14:00-16:00
Stepney City Farm, E1 3DG
How can we push for policies that will have real material impact in our communities? A conversation on Community Wealth Building, featuring guest-speakers
Plastic Free Poplar Picnic
Friday 26th, 16:00-19:00
R Urban Poplar, E14 0SP
Join us for a collaborative cooking session
creating plant based picnic foods without the plastic! Learn how to make yummy dips and a simple bread from scratch, and enjoy a communal meal with our creations. Love to share food? Bring your own dishes from home to share with others at the picnic, and swap your ideas and plastic-free recipes. People are welcome to come just for the picnic.
Family-friendly event
With Sunny Jar Eco Hub
Stories from the garden - Stop Motion at R-Urban
Workshop: Friday 26th, 14:00-17:00
Screening: Saturday 27th, 11:00-15:00
R-Urban, E14 0SP
Join us for a fun, family-friendly stop-motion workshop celebrating R-Urban’s growing community using recycled and natural materials. Shape your own story and see it on the big screen at the TPK Fair!
With Mathilde & Public Works
Storytelling with SASS: Food, Culture and Heritage
Friday 26th, 18:30-21:00
The Gallery Cafe, St Margaret’s House, E2 9PL
Join us for an evening exploring food and South Asian culture, hear reflections from women in the food industry and share your own stories on your relationship with food. Food provided will be vegetarian.
Right to Grow x Cranbrook: Roots & Routes
Saturday 27th
09:45-12:00 Tour of community gardens
12.00-16:00 Harvest Celebration
Cranbrook Community Food Garden, E2 0RB
A community-led garden tour across Tower Hamlets, celebrating local harvests, global food cultures, and shared stories—culminating in a harvest celebration and the launch of The Cranbrook Community Cookbook.
With Cranbrook Community Food Garden & Right to Grow Tower Hamlets
Orchard Volunteering Day
Saturday 27th, 11:00-14:00
Swedenborg Square Community Orchard, E1 8HR (map link)
This urban orchard has many variety of apples, some cherries, plums, a quince, a medlar tree and pears. The space is designed for pollinators, bees and butterflies and we are hoping to refresh many areas for wild flower seed planting in September and October as autumn is the best time to
let the seeds establish for next spring and summer flowering.
TPK/ R-URBAN AUTUMN HARVEST FAIR
Saturday 27th, 11:00-15:00
R-Urban, Brion Place, E14 0SP
Join the Teviot People’s Kitchen and R-Urban Poplar to celebrate the autumn harvest and the changing of the seasons. We’ll be preparing and sharing food from the garden, engaging in creative activities that honour the turning of the seasons. Family friendly, all are welcome.
With Teviot People’s Kitchen & R-Urban Poplar
Food LiveS of tower Hamlets Exhibition
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th, 1030-15:30
Rich Mix, E1 6LA
Come to our interactive, multimedia exhibition showcasing 5 years of research about the food lives of people in Tower Hamlets and share your ideas. It explores Bangladeshi relationships with food – focused on oils and fats, and on organic vegetables. Across the two days there will be informative talks and activities about the findings of this research.
With Wen
URBAN foraging
Saturday 27th, 11:00-1430
Mile End Park (Wennington Rd entrance)
Learn how to find and use wild food in the city. Introduction to foraging plants and fungi for food and medicine. Includes wild snacks, tasters and herbal tea
StoryPlay
Sunday 28th, 10:30-12:30
Rich Mix, E1 6LA
(Suitable for children aged 2-5)
Playful creative sessions that encourage and provide opportunities for families with young children to create and socialise with a special focus on greening, gardening and growing food. This StoryPlay will be looking at the summer harvest and transition to Autumn. Come and get involved with our Community Garden as we tell stories, play games and nurture the plants we’ve been growing over the summer!
With Rich Mix
Eat Mindfully move joyfully
Sunday 28th, 14:00-15:30
Rich Mix, E1 6LA
A safe, interactive space that explores evidence-based insights into the mind-body connection—with a focus on food as a source of healing, connection, and empowerment.
Power of Food Festival closing event
Sunday 28th, 16:30-19:00
Rich Mix, E1 6LA
The closing event will mark the end of the Power of Food Festival and celebrate everyone involved, with activities designed to nourish our food movement – restoring our energies for the season ahead. Family friendly (activities kids will enjoy). With Wen