March is a month for remembering saints, mothers and those less fortunate with several charity doles. Either Shrovetide and Lent or Easter will fall during the month depending on the year, with sports and either pancakes or eggs to enjoy.
Some events take place on exactly the same date every year, regardless of which day of the week they fall upon. The following table shows events which are fixed in this way:
| Day | Event | Article |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff St David's Day Parade |  |
| 1 | Lanark Whuppity Scoorie | |
| 5 | Cornwall St Pirans Day Processions | |
| 17 | St Patrick's Day | |
| 20 | Durham St Cuthbert's Day | |
| 20 | London Druid Spring Equinox Ceremony | |
| 21 | Oxford Thomas Cranmer Commemoration | |
| 25 | Tichborne Dole | |
Some event dates differ from year to year in order for them to fall on a weekend or during a particular week of the year, for example the 3rd week in January. The following table shows events where dates may vary in this manner:
| Date | Event | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday in February or March | London Spital Sermon | |
| A Sunday in March | Dorking Wife Carrying Races | |
| 9 (latest possible date ) | Collop Monday | |
| 10 (latest possible date) | Shrove Tuesday | |
| Sunday nearest 11th | Newark Penny Loaf Day and Bombshell Sermon | |
| 11 (latest possible date) | Ash Wednesday | |
| 15 (earliest possible date) | Palm Sunday | |
| Weekend mid-month | Thriplow Daffodil Weekend | |
| Sunday nearest 17th | London St Patricks Day Parade | |
| 20 (earliest possible date) | Good Friday | |
| 21 (earliest possible date) | Easter Saturday | |
| 3rd Thursday | Kiplingcotes Derby | |
| 3rd Thursday | London Oranges and Lemons Service | |
| 22 (earliest possible date) | Easter Sunday | |
| 23 (earliest possible date) | Easter Monday | |
| Weekend late in Month | Hawick Reivers Festival | |
| Late weekend in March or April | Whitby Gothic Weekend | |
| Last Thursday | Old Bolingbroke Candle and Pin Auction | |
| A Saturday in March or April | Dalemain Marmalade Awards & Festival | |
| Late March/early April (usually a Sunday) | London Spitalfields Goat Race | |
| Late March/ early April (usually a Sunday) | University Boat Race | |
Shrove Tuesday is the day before the penitential season of Lent. Lent is the forty day period immediately before Easter, and because Easter is a movable feast, Shrovetide and Lent are also on differing dates from year to year. Shrove Tuesday can fall any time between February 3rd and March 10th, depending on whether Easter is early or late. The day following Shrove Tuesday is called Ash Wednesday (it’s the first day of Lent), and the day before Shrove Tuesday is called Collop Monday. Because Lent was a season of penance and fasting, it was customary to use up eggs by making pancakes and to let off steam with boisterous games. Some of these traditions survive today.
The fourth Sunday in Lent is Mothering Sunday, the fifth is Carlin Sunday, and the sixth and final Sunday in Lent is Palm Sunday, which falls a week before Easter Sunday.
| Date | Event | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Collop Monday | Collops | |
| Monday before Jedburgh Ba' | Hobkirk Handba | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Alnwick Football | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Ashbourne Football | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Atherstone Football | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Chester Cheese Rolling | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Clovelly Lentsherd or Tin Can Night | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Corfe Purbeck Marblers Meeting | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Durweston Shroving | |
| Shrove Tuesday | East Hendred Shroving | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Gittisham Tiptoeing | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Harpole Clay Pipe Smoking Contest | |
| Shrove Tuesday | London Inter Livery Pancake Race | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Olney Pancake Race | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Pancake Races | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Scarborough Skipping | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Sedgefield Football | |
| Shrove Tuesday | St Columb Hurling | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Toddington Conger Hill Witch Listening | |
| Shrove Tuesday | Westminster School Pancake Greaze | |
| Ash Wednesday | Ashbourne Football | |
| Thursday following Shrove Tuesday (usually but see Helpful Hints) | Jedburgh Ba | |
| Ash Wednesday to Easter Monday | St Albans Alban Hot Cross Buns | |
| Saturday following Jedburgh Ba' | Ancrum Ba | |
| Monday following Jedburgh Ba' | Denholm Ba | |
| 2nd Saturday following Shrove Tuesday | St Columb Hurling | |
| Mothering Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent) | Coddington Mothering Sunday | |
| Mothering Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent) | Mothering Sunday/ Mothers' Day | |
| Mothering Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent) | Upwey Clipping the Church | |
| Mothering Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent) | Whitley Chapel Clipping the Church | |
| Carlin Sunday (5th Sunday in Lent) | Carlin Peas | |
| Palm Sunday weekend and Good Friday | Bury Pace Eggers | |
| Palm Sunday (6th Sunday in Lent) | Battle of Towton Walks (formerly Service & Re-enactment) | |
| Palm Sunday (6th Sunday in Lent) | Herefordshire Pax Cake Distribution | |
Easter was the most important festival in the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection. Easter has no settled date, but is fixed by a complex system based upon the phases of the moon and the equinox – it usually falls between late March and late April. Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday, which is followed by Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Hocktide is the Monday and Tuesday following Easter Monday.
| Date | Event | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Ash Wednesday to Easter Monday | St Albans Alban Hot Cross Buns | |
| Palm Sunday weekend and Good Friday | Bury Pace Eggers | |
| Last Thursday of Easter Term | Ufton Marvyn Dole | |
| Maundy Thursday | Durham Judas Cup Ceremony | |
| Maundy Thursday | Leigh (Manchester) Henry Travice Charity | |
| Maundy Thursday | Royal Maundy | |
| Good Friday & Easter Weekend | Easter Pilgrimages and Passion Plays | |
| Good Friday | Calder Valley Pace Egg Plays | |
| Good Friday | Chiddingstone Real Football | |
| Good Friday | Cressbrook Good Friday Band | |
| Good Friday | Dunstable Orange Rolling | |
| Good Friday | Fenton Bebibell (Near Morvah) Dolly Dunking | |
| Good Friday | Ringmer (formerly Alciston & Firle) Long-Rope Skipping | |
| Good Friday | Hartfield Dole | |
| Good Friday | Hastings Stations of the Cross Passion Play and Marbles | |
| Good Friday | Horndon-on-the-Hill Buns | |
| Good Friday | London Butterworth Charity & Widows Sixpence | |
| Good Friday | London Widow's Bun Ceremony | |
| Good Friday | Mansfield Mary Mallatratt's Dole | |
| Good Friday | Penistone Flour Dole | |
| Good Friday | Tinsley Green Marbles Championship | |
| Good Friday | Workington Football | |
| Easter Saturday | Bacup Brittannia Coconut Dancers | |
| Easter Saturday | Market Harborough Hubbard Singing | |
| Easter Sunday | Dinas Bran Pilgrimage | |
| Easter Sunday | London St Bride's Egg Rolling | |
| Easter Sunday | Newcastle Easter Vigil Rooftop Singing | |
| Easter Sunday or Monday | Peterlee World Egg Jarping Championships | |
| Easter Sunday | Rawtenstall Clog Cobbin Championships | |
| Easter Monday | Biddenden Dole | |
| Easter Monday | Furness Pasche Egg Play | |
| Easter Monday | Gawthorpe World Coal Carrying Championship | |
| Easter Monday | Great Finborough Race of the Boggmen | |
| Easter Monday | Greenwich Easter Monday Lifting | |
| Easter Monday | Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble & Bottle Kicking | |
| Easter Monday | Hedley Barrel Race | |
| Easter Monday | London Harness Horse Parade | |
| Easter Monday | Morpeth Easter Oranges | |
| Easter Monday | Mossley & Middleton Pace Egg Plays | |
| Easter Monday | Preston Egg Rolling | |
| Easter Monday | Winchelsea Mayoring | |
| Easter Tuesday | Bristol Tuppenny Starvers Charity Dole | |
| Easter Tuesday | South Cave Jobson Charity Bequest & Sermon | |
| Easter Tuesday | Workington Football | |
| Thursday after Easter | Ratcliffe Culey Lane Setting | |
| Weekend after Easter | Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering & Border Cavalcade | |
| Saturday after Easter | Workington Football | |
| Hock Tuesday (Tuesday of the week after Easter week) | Hungerford Hocktide & Tutti Men | |