NOVA ESEA

Your guide to the UK's best ESEA (East & Southeast Asian) music, arts, culture & more

GUIDE

Mid-Autumn Festival London 2026: Dates, Events & Where to Buy Mooncakes

NOVA ESEA

ESEA Heritage Month 2026: London Events, What It Means & How to Get Involved

NOVA ESEA

Japanese Markets in London: 2026 Dates & What’s On

NOVA ESEA

Hyper Japan 2026: Everything You Need to Know About the UK's Biggest Japanese Culture Festival

NOVA ESEA

K-Pop Concerts in London 2026–27: Autumn & Winter Dates, Plus J-Pop & City Pop

NOVA ESEA

East & Southeast Asian Food Guide London: Street Food, Restaurants, Supperclubs & Pop-Ups

NOVA ESEA

FEATURE

How Hong Kong Film Festival UK Became a Year-Round Home for ESEA Audiences

A few years ago, after one of Hong Kong Film Festival UK's screenings, a woman walked up to Ching Wong. She had moved from Hong Kong a few months earlier. Until that evening, she had barely left her home. “She said she had arrived in the UK a few months before, but this was her first time really getting out of her house to be in a social occasion, because she was scared, she was feeling very unsettled. But this experience was very important for her. She felt safe and connecte

Ong Lai Kopitiam: The Malaysian Kopitiam Robert Ngo Rebuilt in Canary Wharf, From the Green Tiles to His Mum's Wontons

Robert Ngo spent ten years as an architectural designer before £5,000 and a market stall turned into Eat Lah, two sites that failed, and finally a Malaysian kopitiam of his own in Canary Wharf. The green tiles, the music and the coffee all came back from Malaysia with him. His mum wraps the wontons.

Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now — What to See at The Photographers' Gallery Before It Closes

Twenty-seven Japanese women photographers, more than 200 works, and seventy years of a history that was mostly told without them. Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now spans four floors of The Photographers' Gallery until 27 September. Here is what to look for, and how to get in free.

Urban Garden Fair: The East Asian Market in London Two Friends Built from Nothing

Three years ago Angie and Irene got lost looking for the venue, then worried nobody would come to their first market. Fifty-odd markets later, Urban Garden Fair brings Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea into car parks and courtyards across London. We asked them why an East Asian market rather than a Hong Kong one, and what a message from a stranger in Malaysia changed.

SHOKUDŌ: “But He’s Happy, Right?” From a Banking Job to Japanese Comfort Food in London

Joe spent thirteen years in banking before he left to cook. It was Christine, his wife and co-founder, who told him to go, and her father who settled it with one sentence about happiness. Now they run SHOKUDŌ, a Japanese comfort food business built on a deliberately small menu, an ox tongue from a Hong Kong restaurant that no longer exists, and a rule about wasting nothing.

Wine The Noodles: Red Wine, Beef Noodles, and the Side of Taiwanese Food London Hasn't Seen

Chef Yu spent nine years perfecting a beef noodle recipe that fuses French red wine braising with Taiwanese technique. Now he's in Paddington, filling a gap he spotted in London's Taiwanese food scene.

Muri: The Filipino Violinist-Singer Who Found Her Solo Sound Between Manila, Paris and London

Muri (Muriel Gonzales) is a Filipino violinist and singer-songwriter who came up through The Ransom Collective in Manila before moving to Paris alone, writing her debut EP 11ème, and performing at SXSW and Focus Wales as the sole Filipino act. We sat down with her in London — as she opened for @moonlanegardens at Dingwalls Camden — to talk jazz clubs, her grandmother, and what keeps her making music.

Sosaku Onigiri: How Masami Brought Creative Japanese Onigiri to Shepherd's Bush

Masami came to London at 23 and never left. Thirteen years later, she's at Shepherd's Bush Market making onigiri with the precision of someone who believes one dish, done well, is enough. We visited Sosaku Onigiri to hear about the stall, the flavours, and the philosophy behind the name.

Physiolosophy: Zhi Wei on Why Pain Is Never Just Physical

Zhi Wei left the NHS, was diagnosed with Grave's Disease, and built Physiolosophy around one idea: pain is never purely physical. We visited her at A Morning of Movement — a wellness event with kin+deum to hear about her practice and the cultural conversation she's trying to change.

ABOUT

NOVA ESEA is dedicated to curating and spotlighting the most vibrant East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) cultural experiences, creating a central hub that makes it effortlessly simple for both enthusiasts and newcomers to discover and engage with music, arts, and cultural showcases. Our aim is to become the definitive online platform, where the richness of ESEA culture is celebrated, shared, and explored, bridging communities and fostering connections through the universal language of art and heritage.

NOVA ESEA

Your guide to the UK's best ESEA (East & Southeast Asian) music, arts, culture & more

GUIDE

Mid-Autumn Festival London 2026: Dates, Events & Where to Buy Mooncakes

ESEA Heritage Month 2026: London Events, What It Means & How to Get Involved

Japanese Markets in London: 2026 Dates & What’s On

Hyper Japan 2026: Everything You Need to Know About the UK's Biggest Japanese Culture Festival

K-Pop Concerts in London 2026–27: Autumn & Winter Dates, Plus J-Pop & City Pop

East & Southeast Asian Food Guide London: Street Food, Restaurants, Supperclubs & Pop-Ups

FEATURE

How Hong Kong Film Festival UK Became a Year-Round Home for ESEA Audiences

Ong Lai Kopitiam: The Malaysian Kopitiam Robert Ngo Rebuilt in Canary Wharf, From the Green Tiles to His Mum's Wontons

Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now — What to See at The Photographers' Gallery Before It Closes

Urban Garden Fair: The East Asian Market in London Two Friends Built from Nothing

SHOKUDŌ: “But He’s Happy, Right?” From a Banking Job to Japanese Comfort Food in London

Wine The Noodles: Red Wine, Beef Noodles, and the Side of Taiwanese Food London Hasn't Seen

Muri: The Filipino Violinist-Singer Who Found Her Solo Sound Between Manila, Paris and London

Sosaku Onigiri: How Masami Brought Creative Japanese Onigiri to Shepherd's Bush

Physiolosophy: Zhi Wei on Why Pain Is Never Just Physical

ABOUT

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