It is June. Let me just say that again… JUNE! The warmer weather may be telling us that summer is well and truly on its way, but my mind seems firmly stuck in denial somewhere between January and March!

Although there is nothing quite like having another half term under your belt and school summer holidays being merely weeks away to snap you back to reality.

Or, perhaps, a general election. To mark the occasion, The Ivy House put on an evening of unbiased cabaret with an all-star line-up of veteran political comedians, magicians and minstrels. Comedy Store and local boy, Jim Barclay, and the hilarious Scummy Mummies headlined the entertainment. Hopefully we will not have to wait five years until we see them perform again.

Nevertheless, May is always an exciting month for Dulwich as it plays host to the annual Dulwich Festival. This year, the festival certainly lived up to its promise of celebrating all the wonderful parts of our community; with great music, literary and theatre events, walks, fairs, local food trails and the incredibly popular Artists’ Open House.

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On the Festival’s opening weekend, I visited a preview event for the Walter’s Way Art Collective – a group of artists showcasing fine art, graphic prints, sculpture, photography and jewellery in SE23 (Liz Workman, Photographer, pictured above). The party was in full swing when I arrived and was showing no signs of fizzling out when I left a few hours later, but with the 10th annual festival fair on Goose Green beckoning in the morning, a clear head was a must!

The Festival Fair celebrated the very best craftspeople, designers, independent shops, bars and cafes from East Dulwich, and this year managed to attract more people to Goose Green than ever before! The following weekend saw the welcome return of the Love West Dulwich Spring Fair and the Dulwich Park Fair respectively.

Over on the main strip, Bugsy Malone was the first ‘kids club’ film showing at the newly opened East Dulwich Picturehouse. Nostalgic parents filled the cinema aplenty to introduce their next generations to splurge guns, pedal cars, and a toe-tapping sing-along to ‘Fat Sam’s Grand Slam’. Ah, whatever happened to Scott Baio… #teenagecrush

June also brings much to look forward to. London’s best party band, The Hit Men, will be performing at Aquarius Golf Club on the final Friday of the month. There are not many live music venues with as magnificent a view of London’s skyline as this one!

Dulwich Helpline and Southwark Churches Care are hosting a sunset soiree with music, wine and canapés on 21st June, set in beautiful gardens on College Road.

But there’s so much more. Our events page has full listings of all the local news, events and ticket information. Just visit our events page for more details.

Come and say hello to us on Facebook and twitter @arounddulwich too!

This article first appeared in SE22 magazine