Dalston is a district where the market closes at four, the cinema runs a programme that changes by the week, and the club has a drag brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Plan around the market, because Ridley Road Market is open Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 4pm and it is the one thing on this page that shuts early.
The rest of the day belongs to the evening, and Dalston has more of it per street than most of London.
Ridley Road Market
The market has stood on Ridley Road since the end of the 1880s. It started with about 20 stalls and now has more than 150, which Hackney Council describes as offering Afro-Caribbean, Asian and European goods side by side. It is in Dalston town centre, opposite Dalston Kingsland station and beside the Kingsland Shopping Centre, at Ridley Road, E8 2NP.
It is open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4pm. It does not open on bank holidays, with one exception: it does open on Good Friday. It is a fruit and veg market first, and household goods after that. Go in the morning, buy something to eat, and plan the afternoon somewhere else.
Where to eat
The reference point is Mangal II, the Turkish grill on our Turkish restaurants page, which is by Dalston Kingsland or Dalston Junction. For a longer list, Vietnamese on Kingsland Road runs up from Dalston toward Shoreditch, and Hackney covers what is within a short walk and open Wednesday to Saturday.
The Rio Cinema
The Rio’s programme is not the standard multiplex slate. For the week of 3 October it was showing Sense and Sensibility and Digger, with a Black History Month screening of Fearless with a Q and A on Sunday 4 October at 2.30pm, Pink Palace screenings of Daddy Dearest on Wednesday 7 October and The Wasp Woman with shorts on Thursday 8 October at 7.30pm, and a Classic Matinee of Amazing Grace on Monday 12 October at 2.30pm.
From 24 October the Hackney Children’s Film Festival takes over the afternoons. The listings change weekly, so treat the above as a picture of the range rather than a schedule.
Dalston Superstore
The Dalston Superstore is at 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB. Its drag brunch runs on weekends: Saturday 3 October with Pina Busch and Lala Dangereuse, Sunday 4 October with Loren Dell’Arco and Perle Rare, and again on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October. Aqua, a pure pop party, is on Saturday 3 October, and the week includes karaoke, open decks and a free confidential HIV and STI testing session with Positive East on Friday 9 October.
It is a queer club and says so. The programme changes by the week, so check their calendar before going.
Ridley Road Market
- Address
- Ridley Road, London E8 2NP
- Nearest
- Dalston Kingsland, opposite the market
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 4pm. Closed on bank holidays except Good Friday
- Booking
- None needed
- Price
- Free to enter
- Standing
- Operating on Ridley Road since the end of the 1880s, with more than 150 stalls
How to get in
Fruit and veg, household goods and international food. Go in the morning.
Dalston Superstore
- Address
- 117 Kingsland High Street, London E8 2PB
- Nearest
- Dalston Kingsland
- Hours
- Varies by night. Drag brunch Saturdays and Sundays
- Booking
- Check the calendar for ticketed events
- Price
- Varies by event
- Standing
- A queer bar and club on Kingsland High Street
How to get in
The programme changes weekly.
Where to go next
Chick ’n’ Sours now runs a residency at the Crown and Castle on Kingsland Road, walk-ins only, from 5pm on weekdays.
Hackney is the district next door, and Shoreditch is the walk south down Kingsland Road.
The best Turkish restaurants in London covers Mangal II, and the best pubs in London covers what to drink afterwards.
Questions we get asked
What are the opening times of Ridley Road Market?
Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4pm. It is closed on public and bank holidays, apart from Good Friday. It is at Ridley Road, E8 2NP, opposite Dalston Kingsland station.
How long has Ridley Road Market been open?
The market has been on Ridley Road since the end of the 1880s. It began with about 20 stalls and now has more than 150.
What is Dalston known for?
A long running street market on Ridley Road, the Rio Cinema, Turkish grill restaurants such as Mangal II, and a nightlife scene that includes the queer club Dalston Superstore on Kingsland High Street, which runs a drag brunch on weekends.
What station is Dalston?
Dalston Kingsland on the Overground is opposite Ridley Road Market and Kingsland High Street. Dalston Junction is the other Overground station, a short walk away.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 183 in the guide.
Last checked 3 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
