Arcadia Scotland

Art and Culture

Aberdeen's War: Through 22 March, Aberdeen Art Gallery
An exhibition drawing on the city’s rich collections to explore different aspects of Aberdeen’s involvement with the Great War including work by war artist James McBey.

Preserve Print: Through 10 March, Peacock Visual Arts
Degree show for printmaking students from Gray's School of Art.

Music, Comedy and Dance

Dylan Moran: Off the Hook: 6 March, Music Hall, 8pm
Moran plays up to the stereotype of the bumbling, drunken Irishman, but his comedy is much more intelligent than mere cliché-mongering: on stage he is uniquely charismatic, a foul-mouthed mixture of lovable and misanthropic, and always very, very funny.

Al Murray: 19 March, Music Hall, 7:30pm
Al Murray makes a career out of satirising the British booze culture and in doing so he comes across as quite a larger lout. Audiences will no doubt be surprised then to learn that he originally studied history at Oxford. It was around this time that he started writing for Week Ending and Spitting Image.

Dunedin Consort: St Matthew Passion: 26 March, Music Hall, 7:30pm
Bach's magnificent sacred drama is a pillar of the baroque repertoire, and one of the most gripping and moving works ever written. Here it's performed by the lean and hungry Consort under the direction of John Butt OBE, in the stripped-down version that they've made famous. Instead of a group of soloists and a large mixed choir, each of the choir parts is sung by just one soloist.

Edinburgh Quartet: 4, 19 and 26 March, Various venues and times
Scotland's premier string quartet was founded in 1960 and maintains close relationships with composers all over the UK, as well as playing dozens of concerts a year in venues all over the world.

Lectures, Sports and Local Festivals

Aberdeen Jazz Festival: 18-23 March, Various venues and times
A shining example of Scotland’s jazz scene, the Aberdeen Jazz festival takes place over five days, across various venues such as the Carmelite Hotel, Aberdeen Music Hall and legendary jazz club The Blue Lamp. The festival features a whole range of musicians and performers flocking to the Granite City for gigs on the green, late-night shows, relaxed café sessions, impromptu jams, showcases for young emerging talent and a variety of workshops. Past performers have included Swedish drummer Magnus Öström and his band, MOBO nominee Zara McFarlane and a one-off collaboration between Scottish jazz stars Euan Burton, Colin Steele and Graeme Stephen. As the festival grows ever more popular, expect more of the same this year, only bigger and better.

In Motion Animation Festival: Through 21 March, Various venues and times
This second edition of In Motion Animation Festival focuses on the work of Dutch artist Hisko Hulsing, creator of the multi-award winning Junkyard, with an exhibition of his development sketches, storyboards, paintings, musical scores, sculptures and films. Also featuring an international season of short and feature-length animation films. The finale features the presentation of the Golden Rowie Award.

Scottish Curling Mixed Championships: 27-29 March, Curl Aberdeen
Mixed pairs compete to represent Scotland at the European Mixed Curling Championship.