March on with these fab things to do with family and friends in London this month. 

1 Smoking Goat’s central Thai-style chicken takeover

For the month of March, popular Shoreditch Thai spot will turn into a fried chicken joint, bringing the tang and heat of Thai-style fried chicken. Expect meat marinated in fish sauce, herbs and chili, a haven of condiments to slather on and dip into, as well as the little additions like crispy garlic that make any dish better. Alongside chicken, get stuck into bowls of fragrant tom yum nam sai – a crab based riff on the well known soup – zesty salads and punchy sides.

Dates: March 3 – April 2

Address: 64 Shoreditch High Street E1 6JJ

Website: smokinggoatbar.com

2. BBC Earth Experience, Earl's Court

Another immersive experience for London, and this one features Sir David Attenborough and footage – included extended scenes – from the magnificent Seven Worlds, One Planet series. Footage from the epic series is projected across multiple multi-angle screens visitors will immerse themselves in the natural world, while Attenborough’s narration guides you through the seven continents and around the marvellous creatures that live there. Breakout areas offer deep dives into specific pockets of the natural world, including getting up close to (digital) creepy crawlies.

Tickets: TBC

Dates: Opens March 30

Address: The Daikin Centre Earl's Court SW6 1TR

Website: bbcearthexperience.com

3. Cinnamon Kitchen's House of Holi Paint Pod & Feast, City

We’ve all heard of India’s Holi festival – a paint fight of cheerful, vibrant proportions, well Cinnamon Kitchen is bringing a bit of the festival’s colour to Devonshire Square. The House of Holi Paint Pod is a purpose-built technicolour paint throwing pop up pod, in which you get to launch a rainbow at your family and friends for 30 minutes. Afterwards, enjoy a nine-dish sharing feast at Cinnamon Kitchen City. Alternatively, go all out with a spot at the Holi Supper Club (March 7 £70pp). Hosted by Executive Chef Vivek Singh and the restaurant’s Head Chef, Raju Ramachandran, the dinner is a feast of the likes of Bengali steamed fish with coconut, mustard and chilli, Kolkata style rich lamb curry and chickpea gnocchi.

Dates: March 7-12

Tickets: Pod £25pp pod + dinner £60pp

Address:  9 Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YL

Website: cinnamon-kitchen.com

4. Winnie The Pooh The Musical, Hammersmith

A bear and world that needs no introduction, Winne The Pooh The Musical is full of life size puppets, Grammy award-winning songs from the original animated features, plus some new musical arrangements. The show brings to life the beloved and iconic characters of Christopher Robin, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo with refreshed storylines by the team who brought The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Paddington gets in a Jam and Sesame Street the Musical to the stage.

Dates: From March 17-May 21

Tickets: From £29.50

Address: Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith W6 9BN

Website: winniethepoohshow.co.uk; riversidestudios.co.uk

5. Pulp Fiction Immersive Dining, Barbican

Dinner and a movie, at once, this immersive dining experience at The Refinery City Point gets you watching the iconic flick while tucking into nosh inspired by some of the film’s most iconic moments. Cheeseburgers, milkshakes and pop tarts in various guises will arrive at your table, but it’s unclear whether pork is on the menu, because as we all know, Jules Winnfield don’t dig on swine.

Dates: March 18 & 19

Times: 1pm-4.45pm & 6.30pm-10.15pm

Tickets: £75

Address: The Refinery City Point, 1 Ropemaker Street EC2Y 9HT

Website: drakeandmorgan.co.uk

6. The Little Prince, Woolwich Works

Luca Silverstrini’s dance company Protein brings its award-winning production of The Little Prince back to London this March for three public facing shows, and a string of matinees for schools. The show tells the story of little boy stranded his own private asteroid as it traverses the universe and discovers the magical whimsical worlds within.

Dates: March 31-April 1

Times: Friday 7pm; Saturday 11am & 3pm

Tickets: From £10.50/£8.50

Address: The Fireworks Factory, 11 No.1 Street, Woolwich SE18 6HD

Website: woolwich.works

7 Royal Coronation Walking Tour

This guided walking tour marks King Charles’ upcoming coronation and explores the history behind the ceremony. Hitting key Royal London locations, including Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, the coronation site for every monarch since William the Conqueror, the tour guides you through the big royal moments of the past, as well as some of the more quirkier and surprising stories, like Beefeaters with pistols and sandwich hiding bishops. It’s also a gentle 90-minute stroll through glorious central London, on which well-behaved dogs are welcome to join.

Date: March 19

Time: 2pm

Tickets: From £20/£15

Address: Starts at Parliament Square, near Westminster Abbey

Website: londonguidedwalks.co.uk

8 London Games Festival, Central London

The annual gamer’s heaven returns to central London, for all things games. Discover new games and gaming initiatives and opportunities to network with like, game-loving minds. Programme highlights include the Stand Up for GamesAid, featuring Pete Firman, Imran Yusuf and Laura Smyth (Monday, April 3; 7pm), Now Play This (Saturday, April 1; 10am) which is an interactive showcase of experimental game design, and the Trafalgar Square Exhibition on Wednesday April 5, from 10am.

Dates: March 29 to April 8

Tickets: events individually ticketed

Address: games.london

9 Grayson Perry Talk at Royal Academy, Piccadilly

Kicking off RA’s monthly artist talks series, Artists on Art, Grayson Perry and his gentle brand of off-beat sense of humour, will talk about the role of humour and seriousness in art and the idea of “performative seriousness”. Artists on Art is a series of six talks given by leading creative minds exploring the idea of artmaking, art education and creativity. Future speakers include Farshid Moussavi, Lubaina Humid and Isaac Julien.

Date: March 9

Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm

Tickets: From £10/£8

Address: Burlington House, Piccadilly W1J 0BD

Website: royalacademy.org.uk

10 Michelin-starred Finnish pop up, Belgravia

The only Michelin-starred restaurant serving Finnish food is coming to COMO The Halkin in Belgravia for a brief pop-up. Finnjävel takesover the five-star hotel for two weeks only, serving the best Nordic cuisine. Dishes like Karelian Pie and Glassblower's Salmon and Blood Panckaes will be made from locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. The Helsinki Distilling Company will run materclasses alongside the popup too. 

Dates: March 21-April 1

Address: 5-6 Halkin Street, SW1X 7DJ

Website: comohotels.com; finnjavel.fi

11 Gloria's Fourth Birthday Bash, Shoreditch

It's been four years since the Big Mamma Group (Ave Mario, Jacuzzi) opened its first London extra-as Italian restaurant (Gloria's) and they're throwing a bash in celebration. Not at the actual restaurant, but just around the corner and still in Shoreditch, Big Mamma's ITALODISCO is billed to be a White Lotus extravaganza with disco balls, cocktails, Fiorucci prints and dancing into the wee, wee hours. Ticket proceeds go to Hospitality Action.

Date: Friday, March 3

Time: 8.30pm to late

Tickets: £5 and includes a welcome shot of limoncello, and available from designmynight.com

Address: 25 Paul Street Shoreditch EC2A 4JU

Website: bigmammagroup.com


12 Mother's Day

If you’re not the sort of person to tell your mother you love her whenever you can, go all out and spoilt the woman, or any other mother figure in your life. Treat her to an afternoon tea at any number of grand hotels, or a spa day – try AIRE baths or Akasha Holistic Wellbeing at the Hotel Cafe Royal– or an all stops out brunch. You could also take her out for a stroll through one of London’s many green pockets if you want your quailty time to be a little more earthy.

Date: March 19

13 Oxford Cambridge Boat Race

Gather your posse and head for the Thames for one of west London’s best day sessions.  Settle into a riverside beer garden to soak up the day’s atmosphere. There will be plenty of Thames-side restaurants putting on special menus for the event as well, check out Rick Stein or Sam’s Riverside, or head to one of the fan parks at Bishop’s Park in Fulham or Furnivall Gardens in Hammersmith.

Date: March 26

14 Head of the River Race, Thames Mortlake to Putney

Same same but different to Oxford Cambridge Boat Race and not to be confused with Oxford's Head of the River, The Head of the River Race sees around 400 crews of eights - so loads of people - from various dots on the map, as close as France and as far away as Australia, with boats setting off in 10 second intervals. The first crew is set to start at 1pm, with the last competitors trailing around 2 hours behind them. Go to all the same pubs and bridges as you would with the Boat Race.

Date: March 18

Time: 1pm

Website: horr.co.uk

15 St Patrick's Day

Paint the town green, drink a Guinness or two, or just have a good old knees up in celebration of Ireland’s national day. You could do this at any pub or bar, or you could try one of these great Irish pubs in London.

Date: March 17

16 Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance

The V&A's exhibition is the UK's first major showcase of the Renaissance master and includes more than 50 artworks never seen before in the UK. The exhibition looks at the sculptor's innovations, collaborations and inspirations, his influence on subsequent generations of artists, and how Donatello is probably, but arguably the greatest sculptor of all time. 

Dates: Running until June 11

Tickets: £20

Address: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road SW7 2RL

Website: vam.ac.uk

17 The Postal Museum's Tunnel Walks, Clerkenwell

Explore the really, really old Mail Rail tunnels which dates back 100 years. On foot, explore tunnels, tracks and platforms which aren't accessible on the Mail Ride ride, and catch up on all the goss from back in the day about how the network was built and maintained. Suitable for people older than 12, and you'll be wearing hi vis and hard hat.

Dates: Tuesday, February 28, and also March 14, 21, 28

Times: 3pm, 3.30pm, 6pm, 6.30pm

Tickets: £60

Address: 15-20 Phoenix Place Clerkenwell, WC1X 0DA

Website: postalmuseum.org

18 Henny's Wine Bar

The shop that started off life as an ethical and sustainable biodynamic wine in Tooting Market, now has moved into a permanent home in Balham. A relaxed and unpretentious place, the bottle list comes short and considered and changed by the week, with a focus on wines by the glass and carafe so you can try the various grapes. Bar snacks will be available, and Yard Sale Pizza will deliver to the bar if you want a more substantial meal. There's also a few beers on tap and by the bottle, and a cocktail list of three, if you're not in the mood for wine. 

Address: 195C Balham High Road, SW12 9BE

Website: hennyswine.com

19 Truth's a Dog Must to Kennel

This latest show by award-winning experimental theatre maker Tim Crouch is a fierce, funny and imaginative show Crouch wrote about the pandemic years; the abuse of power, the wrecking of families, and how the pandemic devastated the theatre industry. Despite this subject matter, the show is riddled with jokes and one in which Crouch draws on the idea of virtual reality to send the Fool from King Lear back to the wreck of the world they came from. 

Date: February 28- March 18

Time: 8pm

Tickets: £14/£12; some performances are pay what you can

Address: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN 

Website: bac.org.uk

This guide will be updated, more fun events to come.