Exciting Things To Eat & Do This March

The dark days of winter are nearly behind us and spring is showing its face in the form of soon-to-be-trampled snowdrop buds. That means shedding at least one puffer coat, actually spending time outdoors past 4:30pm, and buying armfuls of daffodils that inevitably make your flat smell like wee. Make the most of March with these exciting things to do. From a paint-slinging Holi celebration, to a queer film festival, here are six joyous things to fully dust off the winter blues. 

Celebrate Holi With A Paint Party

Join Cinnamon Kitchen’s #HouseofHOLI events at Devonshire Square from the 6th to 12th March to lob powdered paint at friends and strangers alike and celebrate Holi, a Hindu festival that symbolises new life, love, and good triumphing over evil. Tickets cost £25, which includes 30 minutes in one of the powder-throwing pods and a cocktail.

Or Book An Epic Holi Sharing Feast

If chucking paint at your family doesn’t scream togetherness to you, celebrate the festival of colour with a sharing-style menu of goat shoulder and vada pav at Kricket in White City on the 8th March instead. The four-course menu costs £55 and includes a cocktail, plus the chance to break bread with your nearest and dearest while keeping your new Salomons box-fresh. 

Eat At Brilliant Women-Led Restaurants On International Women’s Day

You could spend several very happy years ticking off all the excellent women-led restaurants in London, just to loop back around again when you’d finished. While a day alone is nowhere near enough time to stuff in all that talent, it’s a good excuse to visit as many as possible. Check out our guide to some of London's Best Women-Led Bars, Restaurants, and Cafés for a gentle shove in the right direction on International Women’s Day on 8th March. 

Fall In Love With Pepper At Spiritland’s Pepper Party

Like its equally misunderstood spice rack buddy, mixed herbs, pepper can end up being aimlessly sprinkled on dishes with no real direction. Dr Anna Sulan Masing is here to change that. On the 20th March her King’s Cross Spiritland Pepper Party will see top chefs and cookbook authors serve herbal pork rib soup and punchy pink and green peppercorn gimlets, all in the name of showcasing pepper.

Drink Guinness And Watch Ireland vs England In The Six Nations

photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli

You could dunk soda bread in chowder and feed it to a conversion-kicking Johnny Sexton to a soundtrack of Enya and it wouldn’t be as Irish as The Faltering Fullback. This Finsbury Park spot is the only venue equipped for the combination of Irish in London and rugby fans that will be descending on 17th March (St Patrick’s Day) and 18th (Ireland vs England in the Six Nations).

Watch A Film Before Eating At One Of Our Favourite Southwark Spots

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

BFI Flare is Southbank’s springtime celebration of queer cinema. It runs from the 15th to 26th March. The closing gala is a screening of Drifter, a coming of age story about a young man in Berlin facing life's big questions, and promises to pack an emotional punch. Continue the soul-searching at Tatale, a Pan-African Southwark spot where the hot pepper rub on the fried chicken wings will flirt with your amygdala.