London events in March 2026

Spring in London is always a knockout. We might live in a sprawling capital city, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t tons of amazing green spaces to enjoy the season’s pops of colour. From London's bright pink cherry blossoms to seas of daffodils, take a look at our list of the best places to see flowers in London.

Unless you're a keen gardener, you probably don't spend much time thinking about soil. But the earth we all stand on is surprisingly rich, changing in colour, scent, texture and history depending on what region it hails from. Museum of Edible Earth is multi-sensory project by artist masharu, which has toured across the world before arriving at Somerset House. It features hundreds of globally-sourced earths, which visitors are invited to touch, smell and even taste in an exploration of rituals, culinary traditions and healing practices from across the world.

The Royal Court Theatre’s stellar seventieth birthday line-up includes an impressive coup: the modestly-sized new writing theatre has bagged the UK debut of Kimberley Belflower’s US smash John Proctor is the Villain. It's a very playful, pop-soundtracked, post-#MeToo riff on Arthur Miller’s landmark The Crucible, which premiered at the Court during its very first season, 70 years ago.

Mums deserve high praise all year round, but Mothering Sunday is the ultimate excuse to treat your darling ma and any other matriarchs in your life to a lovely time. Here’s our guide to help you get organised and plan a proper celebration of mumsy on Sunday March 10, whether you want to take her for a cheeky Mumtini, treat her to a relaxing trip to one of London’s exquisite spas, or send her a stunning bunch of flowers. 

Groundbreaking fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli lit up the 1930s fashion scene with her surreal and avant garde haute couture creations – often with striking silhouettes, gilded accents, and unusual appliqués. Now, her fashion house will get a major V&A retrospective, from its first, paradigmshifting garments, through to its present-day incarnation in the hands of its creative director Daniel Roseberry, whose contemporary designs worn by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid.

Time Out's critic gave the V&A's exploration of the glamorous world of Marie Antoinette a full five stars. So you'd better not miss this tres chic exhibition before it sashays out of town. You'll find out how the last Queen of France set the agenda for the fashion of her day by working with stylists, designers, hairdressers and even by plastering her monogram over everything she owned. Magnifique!

The Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens is taking a voyage to China this February, courtesy of the latest annual mind-bending orchid display that takes over the iconic glasshouse each year. As ever, the exotic display will celebrate the natural beauty and biodiversity of its subject country: China is home to thousands of varieties of orchid, plus vast amounts of other flora and fauna besides.  

Look out for sculptures of dragons and Chinese lanterns, as well as intricately woven plant installations. There’ll also be  ticketed after-hours events with live Chinese music, food, cocktails and dance performances. 

This Design Museum trains its gaze on the most flamboyant subculture of the 1980s: the New Romantics, and the iconic (and we really don’t use that word lightly) Covent Garden nightclub where it was born in 1979. Forty years after it closed, the trailblazing club’s atmosphere has been recreated through a ‘sensory extravaganza’ incorporating music, film, art, graphic design and some very ostentatious outfits. So make sure you put on your frilliest blouse and get down there, before the party's over for good.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor - aka sardonic pop star Self Esteem – did a stint in the West End’s Cabaret a couple of years back, but she's never been in a straight up play. Now, she's starring in David Hare's 1975 drama about an embittered, alcoholic rock star left raging and washed up at the end of the decade. There'll be songs along the way too, with new contributions from Taylor herself. 

Grab your cowboy boots and Stetson hat, because huge country music festival C2C: Country 2 Country will return to London in 2026. Taking place at the O2 from March 13 to 15, next year’s edition will be headlined by Zach Top, Keith Urban and Brooks & Dunn. This will be Zach Top’s first UK performance, while the legendary duo Brooks & Dunn will be returning to Britain for the first time since 2010. Also on the billing are Scotty McReery, Russell Dickerson, Drake Milligan, Noeline Hofmann and Alana Springsteen. 

Top playwright Nina Raine and her younger brother writer Moses are descended from Doctor Zhivago author Boris Pasternak, and both their careers have been touched by their Russian heritage. Now they're joining forces for an adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s classic drama Summerfolk, directed by National Theatre deputy Robert Hastie, which follows Russia’s 1905 bourgeoisie as they retreat to the countryside for frivolity and relaxation. But of course, there are stormclouds on the horizon – if only the characters can recognise them.

Two acclaimed choreographers who you might not expect to work together – the remarkable ballet creator Crystal Pite alongside commercial dancer and Taylor Swift collaborator Kameron N Saunders – have come together to create Body and Soul with ENB, which recieves its UK and world premiere at Sadlers Wells. Pite’s Body and Soul (Part 1) explores bereavement, featuring two dancers in funereal black suits and white shirts. Meanwhile Saunders presents a new work in three parts that looks at the quest to find our authentic self under crushing societal scrutiny, inspired by his own experiences.

Acclaimed theatre director Robert Icke has proved he knows how to bring new bite to Shakespeare's classics, so it's exciting to see what his take on doomed romance Romeo & Juliet will be. What we can definitely say is it has some pretty damn heavyweight lead casting in the form of Stranger Things star Sadie Sink as Juliet. She’ll be joined by Noah Jupe as Romeo. He is less well-known but his face might be familiar: he played middle child Marcus in the Quiet Place horror films, and will take on the title role of Shakespeare’s son in Chloe Zhao’s imminent Hamnet movie.

Playwright Suzie Miller's follow-up to her smash Prima Facie is another look at the legal system and all the difficulties that come with navigating it while female. Rosamund Pike stars as a High Court judge who's working on a rape case, while navigating sexism both at home and at work, on top of all the difficulties of raising a teenage boy. It's a fascinating, knotty play with a barnstorming central performance. 

Ancient traditions don’t get much more fun than Holi, the centuries-old festival where revellers mark the start of spring by hurling brightly coloured paint at each other. It falls on Wednesday March 4 this year, although many celebrations will take place on the weekends before or after that date. It’s a millennia-old tradition celebrated across the Indian subcontinent by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and nonbelievers alike. But the paint-slinging part of the festivities is getting more and more popular across the world with both believers and non-believers, as everyone embraces the chance to cut loose, spread a little chaos, and get some dayglo-brite pics.

International Women's Day is a huge global celebration that raises solidarity and spotlights feminist issues in the form of talks, debates, parties, gigs and more. The centrepiece of London's annual celebrations tends to be Southbank Centre's annual Woman of the World (WOW) festival, with a teeming programme of talks, discussions, and exhibitions from an international crew of female thinkers, writers and artists. Other events include the Million Woman Rise march against male violence, as well as special concerts, shows and events at cultural venues across the city. 

The UK’s largest queer film event returns to the BFI Southbank (and to the BFI Player online) for its 40th edition from March 18-29. The line-up has yet to be announced, but it's typically a wide-ranging, international array of new films and rediscovered classics exploring every hue of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow. Cinephiles can also expect a host of expanded-reality works, panels, Q&As and after-hours events. Check the BFI website for the full schedule.