Our pick of the weekend’s action:

FRIDAY

Enjoy Come Rhyme With Me, a poetry evening and dining experience with a set menu of performers, each style specific to the course they have been chosen to represent, plus and an open mic, from 7 to 10pm at Cottons, Exmouth Market, EC1. Costs £12.50 (£10 concessions) with dinner, or £7.50 (£6 concessions) for the performance, call 020 7833 3332.

Start the weekend early with Lunchtime Disco with Jess Indeedy – London’s only daytime dance party, from 1-3pm at The Book Club, Leonard Street, EC2. Free, call 020 7684 8618.

Lose weight, make friends and enjoy the scenery at Nordic walking sessions for over-55s, from 2pm at the Drovers Centre , North Road, N7. Costs £2, call 07900 888 438.

Join the club strictly for older chaps at Friday Fellas, dedicated to gentlemen, from 11.30am to 4pm at Sotheby Mews Day Centre, Sotheby Mews, N5. Costs £3.50 (including lunch and an exercise class) call 020 7226 1421.

SATURDAY

Check out some cracking artwork from emerging local talent, as well as children’s activities – plus cakes and hot drinks – at a Fantastical February Fair, from noon to 4pm, at the Islington Arts Factory, Parkhurst Road, N7. Free, call 020 7607 0561.

Relax and stay cool with live jazz from the Martin Speake Trio with Jeff Williams on drums and Phil Robson on guitar, from 9 to 11.30pm at Ajani Grill, Hornsey Road, N19. Costs £6 call 020 7272 5566.

Develop your skills for drawing at an art class for all abilities, taught by artist Jon Britten, from 2 to 5pm, at Highbury Baptist Church, Highbury Place, N5. Eight sessions cost £84 (£64 concessions), visit drawingclassesforall.weebly.com

SUNDAY

See textile artist Clare Sams and Archway knitters construct narratives about our collective journeys and forgotten people as part of a long-term exhibition. All day at the A Million Minutes Shop Studio, Junction Road, N19. Free, call 020 7514 2366.

Browse an array of bargains at one of Islington’s newest and most interesting markets, from 10am to 4pm, in Camden Passage, N1. Free, call 020 7288 4377.

Toughen up at chi kung self defence classes, every Sunday, from 11am to noon, at Providence Court, Upper Street, N1, every Saturday, from 11.15am to 12.30pm and every Friday from 6.45pm to 7.45pm, at the Unity Church, Upper Street, N1. Call 07973 622240. The class costs £10 per lesson or £40 for five.