Brick Lane shuts to traffic on 20 September for a free, day-long street festival that’s putting the “Bangla” back in Bangla Town, a giant puppet procession, dhol drummers, saree draping workshops and enough curry houses offering discounts to make booking ahead genuinely worth it.
We’ll admit we didn’t clock, until we started digging into this one, quite how long Brick Lane went without its own curry festival. The event returned in 2025 after a nine-year gap and pulled in a reported 22,500 people over a single day, and this year’s edition is being billed by organisers as “bigger, better and spicier,” with more vendors and a longer programme than last year’s comeback run.
The day starts at noon with a procession from Allen Gardens down Brick Lane, giant puppets, lion dancers and performers leading the way, and runs through to 7pm with street entertainment, dhol drummers and live street art dotted along the route. There’s a festival stage with Bengali artists Nish and Mumzy plus the Bollywood Brass Band, and a family zone called the Gaat, where saree draping demonstrations and dance workshops take place throughout the day. Restaurants along the street are running chef demonstrations and serving up regional dishes through the afternoon.
The bit we didn’t fully appreciate: Brick Lane’s status as a curry destination isn’t a marketing invention, it dates back to Bangladeshi families, many specifically from the Sylhet region, settling in the area after the Second World War and opening the first curry houses shortly after. By the 1970s and 80s the street had become known as Bangla Town in earnest, and it’s stayed one of the country’s most concentrated curry strips ever since. This festival is essentially that history throwing itself a party.
Guljar Khan of the Bangla Town Business Association, one of the festival’s organisers alongside Tower Hamlets Council and the Brick Lane Community Forum, has described the event as “a lifeline for our high street,” supporting local livelihoods and keeping the area’s history thriving rather than just a one-day spectacle.
The London x London Take: we’d register on Eventbrite even though entry is free, it’s the only way to unlock the 20% discount running across participating restaurants on the day, and Brick Lane’s curry houses get properly busy once the procession lands. Turn up for the noon procession if you want the full spectacle, giant puppets and dhol drummers are a genuinely good reason to leave the house on a Sunday, but the food stalls and chef demos run all afternoon, so there’s no need to rush the whole day into the first hour. We’d also budget for a wander beyond the festival footprint itself, some of Brick Lane’s best curry houses are a few doors down from the main stretch and considerably quieter than whatever’s happening at the centre of the action.
Need to know
- Where: Brick Lane, London E1 6RF
- When: Sunday 20 September 2026, 12pm–7pm
- Price: Free to attend
- Booking: Register via Eventbrite for a 20% discount at participating restaurants
