In the next of our monthly blog posts about what’s on in Malaga we take a look at events in Malaga in March.
Events in Malaga in March are dominated by the week of Easter processions. One of the most important annual events in Malaga, Easter week takes place from 25 March to 2 April. Read our blog post answering lots of FAQs about Malaga at Easter.
But apart from religious pageants, March brings plenty of cultural events to Malaga. Here’s our pick of what’s on in Malaga over the next month.
Public Holidays
Thursday 29 March and Friday 30 March are both public holidays in Malaga, taking place during Easter week. Shops, businesses and banks will be closed on both days, but bars, cafés and restaurants will be open as usual. The same applies to monuments and museums. Find out more about public holidays in Malaga this year.
Musical Events in Malaga
Music certainly goes eclectic this month in Malaga where you can choose from opera to swing, and from classical to sacred.
Cosi Fan Tutte
One of Mozart’s best-known operas goes to Malaga on Friday 2 March at 9pm and Sunday 4 March at 7pm at the Cervantes Theatre. Tickets from €20 here.
Glenn Miller Tribute
Jazz and swing fans have a must-put-in-the-diary date on Wednesday 7 March at the Cervantes Theatre. The tribute to one of the greatest is led by the Pasadena Roof Orchestra – expect an evening of classic Miller swing sounds (think ‘In the mood’, ‘Chattanooga choo loo’…) Tickets from €25 here.
Romeo and Juliet
Perhaps the greatest romance of all time comes to the Cervantes Theatre in ballet form, performed by the Moscow State Ballet with two stars from the Bolshoi Ballet in leading roles. Tuesday 13 March at 8pm.
Tickets from €25 here.
Easter music
Bach’s St Matthew Passion, considered by many to be a masterpiece of sacred music, will be performed by the Young Baroque Orchestra of Andalucia and the Madrid Polytechnic Choir at the Cervantes Theatre on Sunday 11 March at 6pm. Tickets from €12 here.
Free lunchtime concerts
If you fancy getting off the beaten track on a Saturday morning and enjoying a free concert at the same time, make yourself to the Monasterio de las Mercedarias in Calle Cruz del Molinillo to the north of the city centre. Sponsored by the Jorge Rando Museum next door (well worth a visit too), the concerts take place every Saturday at noon in the monastery chapel. It’s a small venue to arrive early to be sure of a seat.
This art museum in Malaga welcomed a brand new collection in February plus two temporary exhibitions. As usual, the three new collections offer the opportunity to see some fine works by artists who are virtually unknown outside Russia.
Brilliant Future. The Art of Socialist Realism – the main exhibition looks at the Stalin era in the light of art, all of produced according to official guidelines. Soviet red dominates the exhibition with lots of stunning paintings and objects from the era. The audio guide offers a great insight into the art works themselves as well as the historical background.
A Traveller’s View. Russian Artists Around the World – is a small exhibition of paintings by Russian artists during their travels in the 19th and 20th centuries. It couldn’t contrast more with the Soviet Realism and includes a very varied mix of painting styles and approaches including classical realism and impressionism.
Mikhail Schwartzman – the Russian Museum goes full circle back to its first exhibition three years with a look at Schwartzman’s Russian icons. A unique artist in both Russia and Europe in the 20th century, he takes a very different approach to religion.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 9.30am to 8pm. Permanent exhibition €6, temporary exhibitions €4, €8 combined ticket. Free 10-11 February all day.READ OUR GUIDE TO THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM
Picasso Museum
The most visited museum in southern Spain (and one of the top museums in Malaga) has just welcomed a new temporary exhibition. And Fellini Dreamed of Picasso takes the Italian film director’s dreams of Picasso as its central focus and compares works between one of the world’s greatest directors and Spain’s most famous artist.
Fellini kept notebooks on his dreams between 1960 and 1990 under the orders of his psychoanalyst. Picasso pops up almost regularly in the dreams and the exhibition brings the two together. Drawings, films and photos from Fellini meet paintings and sculptures by Picasso in a decidedly surreal setting.
From 13 February to 13 May. Open daily 10am to 6pm (7pm from March). Temporary exhibition €5.50.DISCOVER WHERE TO STAY IN MALAGA
Carmen Thyssen Museum
The first new temporary exhibition of the year arrives at this museum on 22 March. Entitled The Mediterranean: Arcadia reinvented, the exhibition looks at the French and Spanish artists’ relationship with the Mediterranean at the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th. Works by the likes of Matisse and Signac will hang side by side with Picasso, Sorolla and Anglada-Camarasa.
From 22 March. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. €4.50.
CAC Malaga
Stephen Balkenhol – hot on the heels of Spanish Francisco Leiro comes German sculptor Balkenhol. He hasn’t exhibited in a museum for over 10 years and CAC showcases over 30 of his extraordinary wooden figures. They include religious figures, ordinary people and an extraordinary thumb print, all exquisitely sculptured in wood with great detail. Until 22 April.
Secundino Hernandez – young Spanish artist Hernandez has his first exhibition in a Spanish art museum. His giant canvases offer an explosion of colour on some and a more monotone take on others. Until 6 May.
Neighbours – CAC Malaga has just renewed its Neighbours exhibition with another great collection of paintings, photos and sculptures, mostly by contemporary local and regional artists.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. Free.
Pompidou Centre
The multi-coloured cube also has a new collection for 2018. Modern Utopias takes you round European ideals in art with some of the continent’s greatest artists on display. Think Picasso, Kandinsky, Miró, Le Corbusier, Chagall… Some fun installations including a revolving nose, sheep on wheels and sardine-tin bed, plus some fun videos.
Model of Monument to the Third International by Vladimir TatlinRead our dedicated post about the new exhibition at the Pompidou Centre.Open Wednesday to Monday 9.30am to 8pm. €7
Top tip – the Pompidou Centre and the Picasso Museum are the only museums in Malaga open on Mondays.
La Térmica
The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones
Beatles vs The Rolling Stones offers a nostalgic look at the early days of two of the world’s most famous pop groups. British photographers Terry O’Neill and Gered Mankowitz are the men behind the lens plus there are two good documentaries of the Beatles touring Sweden and the US in 1964 and the Stones in Ireland in 1965. It’s all about the drainpipe trousers, Cuban heels and of course, those lips. Until 20 March.
The Beatles vs The Rolling StonesOpen Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 1pm and 5-9pm. Free
Get to La Térmica Cultural Centre on the No 7 bus from the Alameda Principal.
DISCOVER MORE THINGS TO SEE IN MALAGA
Other exhibitions in Malaga in March
The municipal MUPAM Museum (on Plaza de General Torrijos) has just opened a fun new exhibition entitled What the Malaga locals wore in the 19th century. It includes costumes and accessories from one of Malaga’s richest periods – this after all was the time that Calle Larios was built and Malaga wine and industry ranked among the best in Spain.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am-2pm & 5-8pm. Free
Other events in Malaga
Freakcon
Celebrating its second edition this year, Freakcon offers a full weekend of comic, Manga, videogames, board games… at the Palacio de Congresos. Confirmed guest appearances by Spencer Wilding aka Darth Vader and Kristian Nairn from Games of Thrones plus a concert featuring sound tracks from some of the world’s most famous films. Saturday 3 March and Sunday 4 March from 11.30am. Tickets available here.
9 March – Red Friday at La Térmica – retro and vintage stalls, plus food trucks, DJ, roller disco and British Council documentaries at La Térmica (on the No 7 bus route from the Alameda Principal) . 7pm to midnight.
10 March – Organic Market – fruit, vegetable and products, all grown and produced locally. Calle Cervantes and Paseo de Reding. 10am to 2pm.
24 March – Organic Market. Parque de Huelin 10am to 3pm.
1 April – La Plaza Merced Market, recently placed among the 10 best street markets in Spain, this great Sunday market offers arts and crafts in the lovely surroundings of the Plaza de la Merced. 11am to 7pm.
DISCOVER WHERE TO EAT IN MALAGA
P.S. – Heads-up for events in Malaga in April
Malaga film festival takes place from 13 to 22 April this year. The festival, celebrating film in Spanish, comes of age this year with its 21st edition. Keep an eye on our dedicated post for more information – we’ll add the details as soon as they’re confirmed.
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Tickets from €25 here.
Brilliant Future. The Art of Socialist Realism – the main exhibition looks at the Stalin era in the light of art, all of produced according to official guidelines. Soviet red dominates the exhibition with lots of stunning paintings and objects from the era. The audio guide offers a great insight into the art works themselves as well as the historical background.
A Traveller’s View. Russian Artists Around the World – is a small exhibition of paintings by Russian artists during their travels in the 19th and 20th centuries. It couldn’t contrast more with the Soviet Realism and includes a very varied mix of painting styles and approaches including classical realism and impressionism.
Mikhail Schwartzman – the Russian Museum goes full circle back to its first exhibition three years with a look at Schwartzman’s Russian icons. A unique artist in both Russia and Europe in the 20th century, he takes a very different approach to religion.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 9.30am to 8pm. Permanent exhibition €6, temporary exhibitions €4, €8 combined ticket. Free 10-11 February all day.
READ OUR GUIDE TO THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM
Fellini kept notebooks on his dreams between 1960 and 1990 under the orders of his psychoanalyst. Picasso pops up almost regularly in the dreams and the exhibition brings the two together. Drawings, films and photos from Fellini meet paintings and sculptures by Picasso in a decidedly surreal setting.
From 13 February to 13 May. Open daily 10am to 6pm (7pm from March). Temporary exhibition €5.50.
DISCOVER WHERE TO STAY IN MALAGA
From 22 March. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. €4.50.
Secundino Hernandez – young Spanish artist Hernandez has his first exhibition in a Spanish art museum. His giant canvases offer an explosion of colour on some and a more monotone take on others. Until 6 May.
Neighbours – CAC Malaga has just renewed its Neighbours exhibition with another great collection of paintings, photos and sculptures, mostly by contemporary local and regional artists.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. Free.
