The Brick Lane Curry Festival is back this Sunday for the second year running after disappearing from the streets of Tower Hamlets for almost a decade.
Festival organisers say they will transform Brick Lane into a vibrant, busy street festival, packed with Bengali food from local businesses, live entertainment and family activities throughout the day under the slogan ‘bigger, better and spicier’.
The festival, first established in the 2000s, ran successfully for over a decade until 2016. But it disappeared as curry restaurants closed, non-food stores moved into the area and rising maintenance costs put pressure on Bengali businesses.
After nearly a decade, plans were made to revive the festival, spearheaded by the leaders of the Banglatown Business Association (BTBA) and Tower Hamlets Council.
The council’s Programme Delivery Manager, Alastair Moir said: “The BTBA leaders felt there had been a period of underinvestment in the area. The festival lacked colour and joy, there was a danger of losing the [Bengali] heritage.”
At the beginning of 2025, Moir was asked by Tower Hamlets’ Director of the Public Realm, Ashraf Ali, to support a number of projects aimed at keeping the Bengali culture alive in Tower Hamlets.
He said: “Brick Lane Curry Festival was the centrepiece of the projects trying to revive and regenerate the area.
“We want it to be a successful and reliable date in the calendar going forward.”
The council believes the curry festival has a positive impact for the Bengali community in Tower Hamlets and the local curry restaurants on Brick Lane.
More than 20,000 people went to the festival when it was revived in 2025, and organisers hope to attract even more visitors this year.
Moir said one of the main changes this year centred on public safety after staying in close contact with the emergency services to learn from last year’s event.
Moir said: “We want to ensure the event is safe and secure for the people who attend.
“Last year we delivered a successful, colourful, and well received event. This year has been a step up, and next year we hope to step up again.”
The Brick Lane Curry Festival is happening Sunday 20 September.
Featured image credit: Tower Hamlets Council
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