The ianVisits guide to March's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Friday 1st March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Friday 1st March
Saturday 2nd March
Free
Discover how women have helped shape the British Army with a day of performances, music and talks.
10am to 4:30pm
Chelsea
A showing of this reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, seen through the baddie's eyes on the big screen.
Starts at 11am
Barbican
Free
In this age of utopian technologies, we can design mechanical limbs for amputees and chemically engineer happiness for depressives. But should we?
11am to 12:15pm
Holborn
Free
The panellists will discuss the role of art and visual representation in response to conflict and dealing with its consequences.
12:45pm to 2pm
Holborn
This interactive public event comprises a panel-based discussion, with representatives from different influential spheres in society who are shaping discourse on British identity, combined with direct audience engagement.
12:45pm to 2pm
Holborn
Monthly open day at one of London's more curious and delightful museums, devoted to the history of the sewing machine.
2pm to 5pm
Tooting
This event examines the changing dynamics of protests and protest movements, focusing on how activists in the UK and globally mobilize and fight against inequalities.
2:30pm to 3:45pm
Holborn
More London events on Saturday 2nd March
Sunday 3rd March
Free
Numerous Mosque will have an open day around the country, with several in London.
All Day
Occasional opening of the fairground organ museum.
11am to 5pm
Amersham
Free
A celebration of all things potato in their many varieties and uses.
11am to 4pm
Southwark
A monthly opening of the Victorian museum of industrial testing equipment.
11am to 5pm
Southwark
Monthly(ish) open days at 250 acres of the estate originally laid out by Capability Brown.
1pm to 5pm
Reigate
The Seething Festival has held an essential role for hundreds of years in bringing the whole community together.
2pm to 5pm
Surbiton
More London events on Sunday 3rd March
Monday 4th March
Celebrate a day before pancake day when it was traditional to eat bacon.
All Day
Author Phil Baker explores the Cultural History of Absinthe & the Green Fairy's influence over Britain's most debauched absintheurs.
7:30pm to 10pm
Hackney
An evening of reflection on his life with two of those who knew him best.
7:30pm to 9pm
Camden
More London events on Monday 4th March
Tuesday 5th March
A procession by liverymen from their hall to St Paul's Cathedral.
11am to 11:15am
City of London
Explore the history & mysteries of Absinthe with a tasting of Jade Liqueurs' portfolio of Absinthes as well as La Maison Fontaine.
7pm to 9:30pm
Hackney
More London events on Tuesday 5th March
Wednesday 6th March
So much has happened since Gresham’s era, yet many of the questions about our cosmic origins still remain.
1pm to 2pm
Barbican
Simon Winder joins us at Stanfords to retrace the various powers that have tried to overtake the land that stretches from the mouth of the Rhine to the Alps and the might of the peoples who have lived there for centuries.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
Soho
We explore why students across the world are calling for the decolonisation of the curricula and what universities can do about it.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Wednesday 6th March
Thursday 7th March
Starting from the premise that disasters are more normal than exceptional events, this lecture will explore the gap between perception and reality in order to draw a more objective picture of the phenomenon.
1:10pm to 1:55pm
This lecture will consider some of the most marginal and forgotten voices in British Second World War history.
6pm to 7:30pm
Whitechapel
From cancer crushers to Everest conquerors, celebrate Imperial’s women with talks, workshops and performances.
6pm to 9pm
South Kensington
To discover more of the story of its Independence, Olie Hunter Smart takes on an immense challenge to walk the length of India, a 4,500km journey over seven months seeking out untold stories of Independence and Partition.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Soho
At a moment, when the international order is ready for change, David Kennedy discusses the role of expert knowledge in the making and unmaking of an unjust world.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
£16.00
Join scientists from CERN to hear about the most ambitious new idea on the table – a gigantic particle collider that would eclipse the world's current biggest scientific instrument, the Large Hadron Collider.
7pm to 8:30pm
Hanover Square
£12.00
Egyptologist Jaromir Malek explores the position of the cat in the religion of ancient Egypt
7:15pm to 8:30pm
Camden
More London events on Thursday 7th March
Friday 8th March
Experience Hackney's oldest home as darkness falls with a tour led by a Sutton House expert.
Starts at 6:30pm
Homerton
Free
Three female leaders in business and finance share their experiences from their varied careers to mark International Women’s Day.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
A twenty-first century look at what was once referred to as 'angelology', which searches out the origins of angels in religious thought, history, psychology and wider culture.
7pm to 9pm
Southwark
More London events on Friday 8th March
Saturday 9th March
£12.00
Try pizza, kebabs, ice creams, pasta, curry, soul food and learn from vegan chefs in cookery demos.
10am to 6pm
Wood Green
Free
A one-day event that investigates the implications and challenges of inclusive facilities and socially just public design through the lens of gender-neutral public toilets.
10am to 8pm
More London events on Saturday 9th March
Sunday 10th March
£12.00
Try pizza, kebabs, ice creams, pasta, curry, soul food and learn from vegan chefs in cookery demos.
10am to 5pm
Wood Green
Celebrated authors Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson and Salley Vickers talk about their passionate commitment to libraries.
3pm to 4:15pm
Camden
More London events on Sunday 10th March
Monday 11th March
Learn about the first ever literary translation of the entire Hebrew Bible by a single author.
7:15pm to 8:30pm
Camden
More London events on Monday 11th March
Tuesday 12th March
A book related talk by the author turned politician on the Crossrail project
Starts at 6:30pm
Kentish Town
An evening which will take you to the most mysterious remaining places in the Universe, black holes!
6:45pm to 8pm
South Kensington
The Great Diary Project rescues, archives and makes publicly available a growing collection of more than 8,500 diaries housed at London’s Bishopsgate Institute.
7pm to 8:30pm
Camden
£16.00
What is a battery? How were they invented? How does a modern battery work?
7pm to 8:30pm
Hanover Square
£10.00
In The Restless Kings, historian and author Dr. Nick Barratt presents the tumultuous struggle for supremacy between the first Plantagenet king, Henry II, and his four sons.
7:30pm to 9pm
Richmond
Join Professor Dame Sue Black as she breathes new life into the taboo subject of death.
7:30pm to 9pm
Notting Hill
More London events on Tuesday 12th March
Wednesday 13th March
London Underground manager and historian, David Leboff, will be giving an illustrated guide through this fascinating subject.
6pm to 7pm
Mayfair
Professor David Stevenson will speak on the attempts to make sure that the First World War was the ‘war to end all wars’ through treaties, the League of Nations and pacifism.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
A talk by Michael Webb, Founding Member, Archigram, is an English architect and a founding member of Archigram, the 1960’s avant-garde neo-futurist architecture group.
6:30pm to 8pm
More London events on Wednesday 13th March
Thursday 14th March
This lecture will look at how and why Christians in the seventeenth century first began seriously to wrestle with unbelief, whether troubled by feelings that God was absent, worries about religious variety or fear of damnation.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
Tim returns to Keen House, this time talking about another of his passions - the Gauge 1 railway at Bekonscot
Starts at 7:30pm
Islington
What’s lurking in the water? Discover pagan Thames rituals, sacred rites, magic, myths, urban legends and monsters.
8pm to 10pm
Southwark
More London events on Thursday 14th March
Friday 15th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Friday 15th March
Saturday 16th March
Learn the traditional craft of wool spinning in the heart of Hyde Park. Perfect your new skill, as everyone gets a drop spindle and a bag of wool to take home.
Starts at 10am
Paddington
Open weekend at the Victorian steam powered water pumps, plus a display...
10:30am to 4pm
Feltham
Waterloo Classics is a monthly classic car show/meet in central London.
12pm to 4pm
Southwark
More London events on Saturday 16th March
Sunday 17th March
Open weekend at the Victorian steam powered water pumps, plus a display...
10:30am to 4pm
Feltham
£10.00
The London Photograph Fair has been London's marketplace for fine vintage photographs, albums and photobooks since 1982.
11am to 4pm
Marylebone High St
£2.00
The London Gaming Market is a place to buy retro video-games, board games and merchandise.
Starts at 12pm
Euston
A three-day visit by a tall sailing ship, with public access each afternoon.
1pm to 6pm
Greenwich
This lecture will change the way you think about talk. It will explain the big pay-offs to understanding conversation scientifically.
3pm to 4:30pm
Holborn
More London events on Sunday 17th March
Monday 18th March
Journalism in situations of conflict is both difficult to undertake successfully and a morally ambivalent form of work. What justifies professionally recording and retelling the stories of others’ suffering?
10am to 8pm
Holborn
A three-day visit by a tall sailing ship, with public access each afternoon.
2pm to 5pm
Greenwich
Why do we think and do evil? What can science teach us about why humans do bad things? And what do our reactions to deviance teach us about ourselves?
7:30pm to 9pm
Holborn
More London events on Monday 18th March
Tuesday 19th March
Free
Discover more about its construction and planning. Part of the Year of Engineering.
2pm to 3pm
Clerkenwell
A three-day visit by a tall sailing ship, with public access each afternoon.
4pm to 6pm
Greenwich
In this lecture, we will explore how deep learning works, what it can do and if neural networks are a modern miracle or yet another false dawn.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
Join this workshop to learn the skills, tools and techniques that can help you advance accountability in your own local area
6pm to 9pm
Holborn
The presentations for this evening feature recently completed educational buildings, each demonstrating ways in which concrete can be used sustainably.
6:30pm to 8:45pm
Euston
Rosemary Ashton’s talk discusses Marian Evans (soon to be known as ‘George Eliot’) in her early London years as a journalist
Starts at 7:30pm
Highgate
More London events on Tuesday 19th March
Wednesday 20th March
In this talk, our Head of Medieval Records, Dr Sean Cunningham, will look at Prince Arthur’s life and assess what type of king he might have been in lieu of the changes wrought by his brother Henry VIII.
2pm to 3pm
Richmond
Paul Seaward will give this year's lecture, 'Time and the Commons, or a Brief History of Parliamentary Time'.
6pm to 8:30pm
Whitehall
£16.00
Get a glimpse behind the scenes, including hands-on veterinary pathology activities and a live-streamed dissection demonstration from the Royal Veterinary College’s Anatomy Lecture Theatre.
6pm to 10pm
Hanover Square
Erica Lagalisse explores the relationship of 19th century anarchism with the clandestine fraternity, challenges leftist attachments to atheism, and intervenes in current debates concerning “conspiracy theory”.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Wednesday 20th March
Thursday 21st March
A former Soviet intelligence agent investigates why less is known about the role of MI6 than that of the NKVD during the Spanish Civil War
6pm to 7:30pm
Holborn
More London events on Thursday 21st March
Friday 22nd March
As Brexit approaches it might be worth considering the two Roman emperors, Carausius and Allectus, who successfully ruled Britannia as an independent state from AD 286-96.
Starts at 12am
Russell Square
Free
Stock up with Finnish foods at this annual Easter Fair and (on Sat only) Scandinavian Spring market.
12pm to 8pm
Rotherhithe
Learn about London’s radical queer history, and how they disrupt conventional understandings of squatting
6:30pm to 9pm
Homerton
More London events on Friday 22nd March
Saturday 23rd March
Over 40 hand-picked layouts from around the globe and in excess of 120 exhibitors to browse and purchase from.
10am to 5pm
Wood Green
A day of talks about women, looking at their stories, old and new.
10am to 4pm
Southwark
£10.00
Uncover the myths and treasure held by Kensington Gardens
Starts at 10:30am
Paddington
Free
Stock up with Finnish foods at this annual Easter Fair and (on Sat only) Scandinavian Spring market.
11am to 7pm
Rotherhithe
Occasional open weekend to go on board the barges moored next to Tower Bridge.
11am to 4pm
Wapping
Free
Join the Institute of Making to celebrate materials and making, as it hosts a one-day, large-scale, drop-in and totally free festival around materials, sensory preference and emotion.
1pm to 5pm
More London events on Saturday 23rd March
Sunday 24th March
A special event to commemorate the withdrawal of the last London Transport RFs on routes 218 and 219 in March 1979.
All Day
Weybridge
Free
Stock up with Finnish foods at this annual Easter Fair and (on Sat only) Scandinavian Spring market.
10am to 6pm
Rotherhithe
Over 40 hand-picked layouts from around the globe and in excess of 120 exhibitors to browse and purchase from.
10am to 4:30pm
Wood Green
Occasional open weekend to go on board the barges moored next to Tower Bridge.
11am to 4pm
Wapping
More London events on Sunday 24th March
Monday 25th March
Ending Impunity: How to improve safety for journalists at risk and deliver justice for crimes against them
6pm to 7:30pm
Whitehall
More London events on Monday 25th March
Tuesday 26th March
This lecture will explore the role played by gender in medieval Welsh legal writing.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
St James
£7.00
The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain. This is not feminist science – it’s just science.
7:30pm to 9pm
Holborn
More London events on Tuesday 26th March
Wednesday 27th March
Free
Join Dr. Carolyn Day as she discusses the connections between fashion and tuberculosis in the early Victorian period.
1pm to 1:45pm
South Kensington
Magician and psychologist, Professor Richard Wiseman will lead the event with musical performances from the Creative Martyrs, to give you an evening of ghostly magic and music.
6:30pm to 8pm
Euston
Are we all Marxists now? Which of Marx’s ideas remain relevant, which redundant? Join leading scholars to address Marx’s legacy at 201.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Wednesday 27th March
Thursday 28th March
Bring along your broken, torn, or tattered items and learn "hands-on" how to mend them alongside our clever stichers, hackers, fixers and heritage nerds.
11am to 3pm
Euston
A talk and signing to coincide with the publication of a new popular history study on the life of King Henry VI, by Dr Lauren Johnson; author of The Arrow of Sherwood (2013) and So Great a Prince (2016).
6:30pm to 8pm
Richmond
Our panel reviews what has been decided and resolved on Brexit, as well as the short- and long-term implications for Britain.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
£8.00
History Showoff is a comedy cabaret event all about the past, where a cast of historians, archaeologists, museum folk and comedians try to make sense of the olden days.
7pm to 9:30pm
Southwark
More London events on Thursday 28th March
Friday 29th March
Professor Ian Morris, Stanford University, offers some historical perspective to contemporary issues by reviewing the history of the British Isles, and the 8,000 years since rising sea levels physically separated the region from the European continent.
Starts at 12am
Russell Square
To mark the 200th birthday of the great engineer Joseph Bazalgette, LMA will be hosting a birthday party in his honour.
2pm to 4:30pm
Clerkenwell
During this special evening in Southwark Cathedral he will discuss some of his experiences, especially his years in captivity and how he was able to keep mentally and spiritually alive.
7pm to 8:30pm
Southwark
More London events on Friday 29th March
Saturday 30th March
A day to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the RT buses - with a procession at the end of the day.
All Day
Barking
£16.50
Four days of events about coffee with lots of different things happening throughout the weekend.
All Day
Whitechapel
Come and explore this beautiful nature reserve which is usually closed to the public and learn about bees.
1pm to 4pm
Brockley
Georgian medicine’s recommendation of diet and exercise might sound remarkably modern, but in fact it was an age-old remedy.
Starts at 2pm
Beckenham
Wade in a wild river and experience a different perspective of London history and urban wildlife.
2pm to 4pm
Deptford
Stunning images enmeshed in a tapestry of sound offer a very different kind of road movie; a mesmeric, psychogeographic trip down 35 miles of blacktop through LA.
Starts at 4pm
Barbican
More London events on Saturday 30th March
Sunday 31st March
£16.50
Four days of events about coffee with lots of different things happening throughout the weekend.
All Day
Whitechapel
A monthly open day at a quirky transport museum housed in an old water pumping building.
10am to 4pm
Enfield Town
An opportunity to have a look at the buildings and engines, to take in the exhibition and learn something of the Victorian sewer system which continues to serve the capital.
10:30am to 4pm
Abbey Wood
Discover the history of the building and climb the 135 stairs for the best view of Hackney.
2pm to 4:30pm
Hackney
