In the next of our monthly blog posts about what’s on in Malaga we take a look at events in Malaga in March. Things go up a gear this month with the arrival of spring and the Film Festival. Plus, there are lots of oither great things to do in the city. Here’s our pick of what’s on in Malaga over the next month.
Note that this post is a work in progress and we’ll be adding events when we hear about them, sometimes not until the very last minute! Bookmark the page for future reference.
Malaga Film Festival
The 26th edition of this celebration of films in Spanish takes place between 10 and 19 March this year. In this edition, Malaga Film Festival has its usual long list of films and shorts to watch, a good dose of celebrity sightings and a ton of associated events including lots of free concerts (see below).
For all the information, read our guide to Malaga Film Festival.
Looking for inspirational things to do and see in Malaga in March? Check out these 10 suggestions.
FreakCon
We said March was jam-packed with fun events… This annual weekend (4 and 5 March) at the FYCMA Congress Palace celebrates comics, Manga and videogames over two full days from 10am to 9pm. This year’s highlights include a long list of VIP guests such as Mark Williams aka Arthur Weasley, competitions and workshops.
Tickets cost €10 per day or €18 for both days and are available online where you’ll also find details of all the events.
Get to FYCMA on the No 20 bus from the south side of the Alameda Principal. Get off at the Camino de San Rafael-Recinto Ferial stop and then walk north for about 5 minutes. The journey takes 30 minutes. There’s also plenty of parking.
Flamenco in March in Malaga
The Flamenco Festival continues in Soho Theatre in March with a dance performance by bailaora extraordinaire, Eva Yerbabuena, one of the best in Spain. She and her dance group take the stage on Thursday 8 March at 8pm.
Tickets cost from €25 and are available from the Theatre box office (on Calle Córdoba) or online here.
Musical Events in Malaga in March
Music certainly goes eclectic this month in Malaga and even better, there’s a great choice of free concerts too.
Free Jazz Festival
The MVA Cultural Centre holds its annual Jazz Festival from 1 to 3 March.
- Sara Dowling Quartet perform on 1 March at 8.30pm.
- Genovese Conly Pitarch Trio on 2 March at 8.30pm.
- Joel Frahm and Jose Farmsworth Quartet on 3 March at 8.30pm.
Entry is free but you need to reserve a ticket beforehand. They become available from 27 February on a first-come-first-served basis and via this online ticketing platform. Bookmark it for reference. The MVA is on Calle Ollerías 34.
Save the date and book in time – these concerts always ‘sell out’ quickly.
Free concerts
As usual, there are several free concerts in Malaga in March. They include:
The Municipal Band play in the botanical gardens on Sunday 5 March at noon. The programme has a modern mix of European and American composers such as Jacob de Haan, Amadeo Vives and Alfred Reed. Tickets are free but you need to get yours via this link that works from Thursday 2 March at 11am, no earlier. Maximum 2 tickets per person.
Get to the botanical gardens by the Red Tourist Bus, leaving the Bus Station at 11am and returning at 1pm or 2.15pm. Each journey costs €1.40.
Maestro Iribarren Quintet – playing chamber music at the Museum of Malaga on Sunday 12 March at noon in the lovely central patio. Get there early (at least by 11am) to be sure of a seat.
Special Holy Week concert by the Municipal Band on Sunday 19 March at 7.30pm in the Iglesia de San Juan church on Calle San Juan. The programme includes Bach and traditional Holy Week marches.
Opera in the Albeniz Cinema
Watch Verdi’s Il Trovatore on screen on 28 March at 7pm, from the Arena de Verona and featuring the Arena de Verona choir and ballet. Tickets cost €12 and available at the ticket office.
Sacred Music of the World
The 3rd edition of Aeternum takes place at the Cervantes Theatre from 21 to 24 March. It showcases Baroque music and song, and includes four concerts. Full details including links to tickets here.
DISCOVER MORE THINGS TO DO IN MALAGA
Wonderful wisteria
One of the highlights during the spring in Malaga is the wisteria pergola at the Botanical Gardens. The wrought-iron pergola literally groans with scented purple blooms for around 3 weeks between mid-March and mid-April. To avoid disappointment, call the Gardens (951 926 180) before you go to check if the wisteria has flowered yet. These gardens are a great place to visit all year round – the wisteria is an added extra! Read all about the Malaga Botanical Gardens.
Art exhibitions in Malaga in March
As usual, there’s a feast of great art in Malaga this month including:
CAC Malaga
This contemporary art museum has the following exhibitions on in March:
- Dominance and Dream – a retrospective of Valencia-born artist Miquel Navarro, showcasing nearly 40 of his works that include sculptures, watercolours and sketches. Until 5 March.
- There must be a Spanish word for that feeling – 20 paintings by German artist Friedrich Kunath. This is the LA-based artist’s first exhibition in Spain (and what a great name!). Until 21 May.
- Golden Hours – an 11-minute video by Mexican creator Gonzalo Lebrija. Until 30 April.
While you’re at CAC, don’t miss the permanent and Neighbours exhibitions. They’re both packed with interesting and thought-provoking artwork and installations.
Tuesday to Sunday 9am-9.30pm. Free entry.
Carmen Thyssen Museum
The museum continues to showcase Spanish art from the 18th and 19th centuries seen in the permanent collection.
Three temporary exhibitions also arrive in March:
- Street Life, Lisette Model and Helen Levitt in New York – 20 photos taken by these women artists during the 1940s. 7 March until 11 June.
- Buenos Aires Fever – over 100 photos by Hoarcio Coppola and photomontages by his wife, Grete Stern, from the 1930s. 28 March until 10 September
- Painting Itself – an exhibition by Spanish abstract artist, Luis Feito. 16 March until 11 June.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 8pm, €10 (€6 for entry between 2.30 and 4pm), free on Sundays.
The Carmen Thyssen Museum has a lovely café serving coffee, light snacks and lunch. There’s a daily lunchtime menu, which is excellent value for €11.90 and it includes entry to the museum.
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Russian Museum
It’s been all change at this art museum in Malaga since (understandably) no new artworks from the Russian State Museum have arrived. But the latest exhibitions are excellent and both draw on the alternative collections.
Russian Art Through English Eyes – works by Russian artists such as Venetsianov, Kandinsky and Goncharova from the private collection belonging to Jenny Green. She owns one of the largest collection of paintings and sketches from the 19th and 20th centuries. Until 5 June.
Sputnik: The Odyssey of the Soyuz 2 – the exhibition includes objects, photos and documents that trace the journey of the Soviet astronaut, Ivan Istochnikov and his dog, Kloka, into space in 1968. Both disappeared into space, but until the fall of Communism, the Soviet authorities maintained the rocket was unmanned. Until 23 April.
For Sale – an installation by Ukranian artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. Until 5 June.
Absent – a photo exhibition by award-winning Spanish photographer Jose Manuel Ballester whose works reflect on scenes with no people and the absence of Russian art at the museum. Until 5 June.
Shadow Dancers – Mallorcan artist Bernardi Roig has two art works at the Russian Museum this month. Shadow Dancers are four bronze sculptures of ballerinas displayed in a room and his drawing Cap Negre.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 9.30am to 8pm. Permanent exhibition €6, temporary exhibitions €4, €8 combined ticket. Free on Sundays after 5pm.
Picasso Museum
The most-visited museum in southern Spain has a permanent collection, called Conversations with Picasso 2020-2023. The exhibition explores 8 decades of artistic creativity from the 20th century’s greatest artist. The Museum also has a room (Sala XII) showing 19 ceramics and 3 paintings created by Picasso between 1931 and 1962. You can also see 22 works from his La Californie sketchbook, which he drew in Cannes in 1956.
Open daily 11am to 6pm. Tickets €9, free Sundays after 5pm. While you’re there, do visit the Picasso Museum café with its lovely patio.
Pompidou Centre
The latest exhibition, Our Own Time, is our favourite so far. It’s divided into six sections (Leisure Time, Holiday Time, InnerTime, Interspatial Time, Introspective Time and Confrontation Time) and showcases work by artists from the early 20th century to the present day. Expect to see the usual thought-provoking collection of paintings, sculptures, videos, photos and installations. Artists on show include Accardi, Léger, Matisse, Picasso and Zangewa.
Read all about the latest art exhibition at the Pompidou Centre
You can also see The Laberynth of Light and the Minotaur by Bernardi Roig, an installation made from 25 blocks of polystyrene. Until May.
Open Wednesday to Monday 9.30am to 8pm. €7 for the permanent exhibition, €9 for both. Free Sundays after 5pm.
La Térmica Cultural Centre
La Termica Cultural Centre has a new exhibition this month, with free entry. Open Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 2pm and 5 to 8.30pm.
Women, a Century of Change arrives on 1 March and showcases the best photos depicting women from the National Geographic Archives over the last 130 years. Until 5 May.
Get to La Térmica by walking west along the seafront (the cultural centre is behind the modern glass Diputación building) or on the No 7 bus from the Alameda Principal (south side).
Top tip – art museums in Malaga have free entry on Sunday afternoons.
Jorge Rando Museum
A new exhibition arrives at this museum, combining the work of Pablo Picasso and Jorge Rando. Their shared theme is bullfighting and you can see engravings by Picasso made between 1929 and 1960 and paintings by Rando from the 70s.
Open Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm and 4 to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm. Free entry. The museum is on Calle Cruz del Molinillo 12, on the northern edge of the old quarter. Don’t miss the Mercado de Salamanca market opposite.
Bishop’s Palace
The exhibition rooms at this gorgeous building next to the Cathedral in Plaza del Obispo has welcomed a fun collection by local artist Javier Calleja. Mr Günter, The Cat Show includes 209 works by Calleja including his iconic cats, a giant Mickey Mouse and lots of paintings and sculptures.
Open Monday to Saturday 10am to 2pm and 4 to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 2pm. Free entry, but you’re asked to donate €3, all of which goes to AVOI, the local children’s cancer charity and two animal shelters.
💡 Top tip – Pompidou Centre, Picasso Museum and Jorge Rando Museum are the only art museums open on Mondays.
Botanical Gardens
As well as admiring the wisteria this month, you may also be interested in a temporary exhibition, After Life and Dreams, in the exhibition hall near the main house.
Watercolours, photography, ceramics and sculpture by four English women artists, all resident in Malaga province. You can the work by Linda Gunn-Russell, Judy Farrar, Ann Westley and Yanina Temple until 30 March. Entrance to the exhibition included in admission to the gardens.
Markets in Malaga in March
Arts & Crafts
El Zoco market on Muelle Uno sells arts and crafts every Sunday from 11am to 6pm. Combine your browsing with a stroll in the sunshine under the Pergola.
Merced Market is on Sunday 5 March on Plaza de la Merced from 11am to 7pm.
El Paseo Market takes place in the morning on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March on La Malagueta seafront promenade.
Soho Market on Calle Tomás Heredia, Sunday 26 March, 11am to 7pm.
Red Friday returns to La Térmica cultural centre on Friday 3 March from 6pm to midnight. Vintage stalls, food trucks and live music all evening.
Organic food markets
Fresh produce grown organically in the Guadalhorce Valley to the north of Malaga. As well as fruit and veg, local producers sell bread and cakes, honey, olive oil, dried fruit and nuts, and organic soaps and creams.
La Malagueta (between Paseo de Reding and Calle Cervantes) on Saturday 11 March from 10am to 2pm.
Huelin Park Saturday 25 March 9am to 2pm.
Sporting events in Malaga in March
Runners have some events this month:
Women against cancer
This charity fun-run takes place on Sunday 5 March at 10.30am and has a 4.5k circuit around Malaga Port. Sign up costs €10 and all proceeds go towards local cancer charity. This is a women-only event, but men are welcome to cheer us on. See you there.
Carrera Peña el Bastón
An 8k race on Sunday 12 March at 10am, with a circuit that starts in the west of the city and ends at the Gibralfaro Castle entrance. Sign up costs €10 and there are prizes for the fastest women and men runners in various categories.
Heads up for April
This month sees the arrival of Easter, one of the city’s biggest events. Read all about Easter in Malaga.
