Long overshadowed by its trendier neighbour Shoreditch, Dalston’s time to shine has finally arrived thanks to four friends who have bought together some of the finest artists, DJs, promoters and labels in the area for a unique arts and music festival celebrating the people and places that make up this inimitable part of Hackney.

Land of Kings, which was born out of a brainstorming session over a meal at the group’s favourite local haunt, Stone Cave, will see an explosion of creative talent up and down Kingsland Road on Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17, and co-founder Connie Harrison was keen to explain just why it came about.

“Shoreditch is very cool and everyone knows the bars and clubs there,” she tells me, “but Dalston has got this real local feel. There are local businesses, great cafés, brilliant Turkish restaurants and hidden bars, that by day are a closed door and by night are a club. There are just so many exciting things going on in the area we wanted to bring it all together for two nights.”

Eager to get under the skin of Dalston the group set about hunting out some interesting venues and found some hidden gems along the way.

Connie explains: “We are using established venues such as Vortex Jazz Club and Barden’s Boudoir and mixing them up with some more undiscovered underground venues like the Marques of Lansdowne which has a lovely big space in the basement which the owner has been using for a Turkish social club.

“Satchmos is another pub that you would just walk past as it always looks empty but it has been taken over by new management and downstairs there is this great space for around 100 people.

“This festival is a real chance to visit venues you wouldn’t normally know about or even know were there.”

But with a number of well-established festivals already in the borough, such as Groove Armada’s Lovebox in Victoria Park, is there room for another?

“Yeah definitely,” Connies says defiantly. “In fact, we talked to Tom Findlay of Groove Armada and he thought it was a great idea and really wanted to get involved but he was playing in Coachella in LA.

“Land of Kings isn’t meant to compete with Lovebox, it has a very different feel. First of all it’s a lot more intimate, we’re talking 200 capacity venues not 2,500 people and the thing that stands out is we tried to invite all music talent who live in the area, so it has a local community feel.”

Reflecting the diverse range of talent in the area, the bill offers something for everybody’s musical tastes, from afro to disco, punk to electro, jazz fusion to techno and with names such as club heavyweight Greco Roman, Durr’s Rory Phillips and uber-cool New Young Pony Club DJs littering the line-up, Land of Kings more than holds its own against its larger cousins.

But it’s not all about music. The festival, which costs £12 for a wristband for one night and £20 for both, is also celebrating the thriving arts community. Local photographer Briony Campbell will be exhibiting her latest project capturing Dalston’s venue owners at the Arcola Theatre, while community theatre company Stoke Newington International Airport will perform a festival exclusive rework of their sell-out show The Christmas Bullet. On top of that, participating restaurants on Kingsland Road are offering wristband wearers 15 per cent off.

“Given the current economic climate going to a festival in the deepest darkest countryside costs a lot of money,” Connie concludes. “Land of Kings is something that is local that you can walk to which is affordable and has a great line-up of local talent.”

Tickets are available online at ticketweb.co.uk, and on sale at Cafe Oto and Vortex Jazz Club. For more information visit www.landofkings.co.uk