There's culture galore across the UK in March - from comedy festivals to theatre nights, exhibitions and more. Dive in!

BFI Flare Film Festival

The country’s premier festival for LGBTQIA cinema is back this month with a huge selection of today’s most exciting queer films. The wide-ranging programme kicks off with Sundance award-winning Finnish drama Girl Picture as the Opening Night Gala, and wraps with the documentary film New Romantics celebrating the late 1970s queer movement, and there’s plenty to explore in between.

The festival runs from 16-27 March, and tickets are on sale here both for online and in person screenings.

RE-TEXTURED Festival

RE-TEXTURED is a beguiling combination of electronic music, modernist architecture and lighting installations – all on the cutting edge of their fields. The musical line-up includes Baby T, Héctor Oaks and Helena Hauff, who will be gathering at the Printworks venue at Canada Water in London on the Friday of the festival. The festival also involves an artistic lightshow by Caterina Barbieri at the Southbank Centre on the Thursday.

The event takes place from 24th-27th March. Find out more, and grab tickets for any of the event’s aspects, here.

Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear

The V&A Museum in South Kensington is celebrating the vibrant state of men’s fashion by opening up their first exhibition on the art of menswear, tracing how fabric designers and fashionistas have helped to construct masculinity through clothes over the centuries. It’s a sartorial journey across the world and across history.

The exhibition opens on 19th March, and tickets are on sale here.

Van Gogh Alive in Edinburgh

The Van Gogh Alive exhibition has delighted audiences across the country and the world in the past months, and it’s now coming to Edinburgh this month. Van Gogh Alive is an immersive exhibition which takes visitors inside the vibrant artwork of the legendary Dutch painter, creating a multisensory experience that’ll allow you to appreciate Van Gogh’s work on a deeper level than simply observing the paintings could ever allow.

Van Gogh Alive arrives in Edinburgh for a four-month stint from 17th March, and tickets can be booked here.

Glasgow International Comedy Festival

If you’re searching for some laughs this month, plenty of them are to be found in Glasgow. The Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a celebration both of homegrown Scottish comedy and of the best funny people from across the world. Big names like Stewart Lee, Fern Brady and Lou Sanders sit alongside some of the hottest up and coming talent the country has to offer, all in one place.

The festival takes place from 8-27 March, and tickets for all shows are on sale here.

The Paxton’s Cultural Theatre & Film Programme

More than just a gastropub (with an extensive, delicious menu and great Sunday roasts), Gipsy Hill’s The Paxton prides itself on bringing curated culture to its local community. In collaboration with local theatre company ‘It’s a Dud’ The Paxton is putting on an array of events this March with the aim of making theatre and film more accessible.

 

One for the film buffs, on Friday the 11th March Screen Rats took over The Paxton to bring focus to emerging local filmmakers. On the 16th and 23rd of March you can enjoy an evening of comedy with a hilarious selection of TV Comedians and rising stars selected by The Stand Up Comedy Club.

 

To find out more about The Paxton’s full programme click here. Plus, keep an eye out for their new pub opening in Peckham next month, The Greyhound.