Camden residents and visitors are being treated to vodka canal cruises, comedy nights and tours of Camden’s best eateries this week as the first annual Camden Create Festival launched yesterday.

The three-day event aims to celebrate Camden as a place to visit and work, offering a packed programme of talks, workshops and events.

Showcasing the borough’s cultural heritage, a specially commissioned “public pavilion” was erected outside Camden Town Tube station comprised of more than 640 multi-coloured and translucent tubes hanging like a “kaleidoscopic wind chime”.

Opened by Mayor of Camden, Cllr Jonathan Simpson, it was spearheaded by Camden’s creative and business minds.

Camden Town Unlimited’s chief executive, Simon Pitkeathley, said: “Camden Create Festival will celebrate the work and ingenuity of one of the most exciting business districts in the world.

“People will ask if you were at the first Camden Create – I’ll be proud to say that I was right here.”