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ABOUT US

Highgate Festival is a community-based project, run by a small team of volunteers:

Festival updates


Toby bio:

Toby and his wife Jenny have lived in Highgate for the last eight years, and can be found walking their whippet Milo on the Heath most weekends.

Toby has worked in marketing and the media for the last 20 years at companies including the BBC, Channel 4 and The Guardian. He is currently working on a new business that encourages exercise to support mental health and positivity.

Toby counts himself very lucky to live in Highgate. With its proximity to Hampstead Heath, Waterlow Park and the centre of London, it is a great place to live. But it’s the true sense of community that makes Highgate so special.

He assists with the Highgate Festival website’s content and maintenance as well as developing the social media campaign.

Maria bio:

Maria, an Austrian, German and a bit of Italian has lived in Highgate for ten years. She is a proud allotment owner on Shepherd’s Hill growing artichokes, rhubarb, herbs and flowers. 

You can regularly see Maria cycling up the hills of Highgate… the hills are alive.

She was a partner and co-managed a medium sized architecture practice for more than a decade before setting up her own studio www.room102.com

Maria is a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster and aims to bridge the gap between academia and practice. She has built 1:1 pavilions with students as part of the London Festival of Architecture. 

The London Festival of Architecture is the world’s largest annual architecture event and celebrates London as a global hub of architectural experimentation, practice and debate.

Maria is interested in public community space and how architecture can improve our lives and create a more sustainable way of living.