Animal Crossing New Horizons: March Overview

March is a significant month. In the north, it marks the beginning of spring. In the south, however, it’s the first month of fall as summer ends. It’s a quieter month for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but there’s still stuff to do, new creatures to catch, and seasonal items to buy. This guide will give you an overview of what’s to come in March.

Note that the dates of some of the events depends on what year it is. For example, Bunny Day can occur in either March or April. Also, some seasonal items available to purchase from Nook Shopping run into the next month or are still available from the previous month.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch for your regional pricing.

March Events

Spring has begun in the north, while it’s the dawn of fall in the south. March is generally a quieter month in New Horizons, but there’s still stuff to see and do. Let’s break down any events occurring this month, as well as any available Nook Shopping seasonal items.

Hinamatsuri Festival

Occurs: 25th February to 3rd March

Hemisphere: Both

Hinamatsuri Festival was actually covered in the February guide, but it’s worth mentioning again here since the real-world festival takes place on March 3rd.

• The Nook Shopping items for this event become available from February 25th.
• The items you can get for this occasion include the Blossom Lantern (2,400 Bells) and Hinaningyo (2,560 Bells).
• Hinamatsuri is a Japanese festival that is also known as Girl’s Day. It’s a day when families wish for their girls to grow up happy and healthy. A tradition is to have a special display in the house called a Hinaningyo. On these displays are dolls representing the wedding of an emperor and empress. These are situated between bonbori lanterns. 

Hinamatsuri (Girl’s Day) carries over from February into March.

Pi Day

Occurs: 1st to 14th March

Hemisphere: Both

A day about pie? Well, sort of. This day is actually referring to Pi, as in the Greek letter π.

• There is a pie you can get, with the π symbol on it. You can buy it from Nook Shopping from March 1st until the 14th, when Pi Day takes place.
• Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th because the first numbers of Pi π is 3.14, so the day is celebrated on the third month of the year, March, on the 14th day. The π Pie also costs exactly 314 Bells!

Fancy some Pi, anyone?

Shamrock Day

Occurs: 10th to 17th March

Hemisphere: Both

This special day is all about the Irish. Sadly, there’s no activities on this day, but you can still celebrate.

• Between the 10th and 17th of March (when the actual day occurs), you can go mad for Irish shamrock in three different ways:

1. You can grab three items from Nook Shopping. These are the Shamrock Doorplate (1,200 Bells), the Shamrock Rug (1,500 Bells), and the Shamrock Soda (1,000 Bells).
2. You can dress up your character in traditional Irish clothes thanks to special items at the Able Sisters. Look out for the Shamrock Hat (1,320 Bells), Shamrock Shoes (1,680 Bells), Shamrock Suit (3,000 Bells), and Shamrock Sunglasses (1,100 Bells).
3. If you haven’t got enough of shamrock already, you can pick up a DIY recipe from popping a balloon for a Shamrock Wand.

Celebrate the traditional Irish holiday Shamrock Day.

What Is Shamrock Day?

This day is actually known as St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. St. Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland, who helped the Irish to convert to Christianity. His day is celebrated on the 17th of March, the day that he died. The celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day became much bigger thanks to Irish immigrants in the United States, where the first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in 1737.

Even though the color blue was associated with St. Patrick in life, green is the color mainly associated with the occasion, as seen with the special items in New Horizons. This is because of the symbol of the shamrock, a plant in which the green leaves are divided into threes, like a clover. St. Patrick was said to have used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish, which is why it is so famously associated with this holiday, as well as the color green. In Chicago, they even dye the river green to mark the occasion.

April Fool’s Day

Occurs: 26th March to 1st April

Hemisphere: Both

Are you a prankster? Well then, in New Horizons, you can prank your friends with an exclusive seasonal item.

• Although April Fool’s Day is on April 1st, the Whoopee Cushion from Nook Shopping becomes available from March 26th. It costs 400 Bells.
• Note that this holiday is not covered by an event.

Prepare yourself for April Fool’s, whether you’re the victim or the prankster.

Bunny Day

Occurs: March or April

Hemisphere: Both

Bunny Day is the equivalent of Easter in Animal Crossing. It’s quite a big holiday, so let’s fill you in so you know what to expect.

• The date of this event changes every year, taking place in either March or April.
• The whole occasion is covered over a week, with the big day itself taking place on the 8th day.
• During this week, you can find eggs all around the island. There are 6 eggs to find, including:

1. Earth Eggs: Buried in the ground.
2. Leaf Eggs: Shaking trees.
3. Sky Eggs: Popping special rainbow balloons.
4. Stone Eggs: Hitting rocks.
5. Water Eggs: Fishing.
6. Wood Eggs: Chopping trees.

Go crazy for eggs when Bunny Day arrives.

• Eggs can be used in exclusive Bunny Day DIY recipes, where you can make furniture and clothing. These recipes can be unlocked via bottles on the beach and popping balloons.
• On Bunny Day, Zipper T. Bunny can be found in front of Resident Services. He is leading the event.
• Zipper asks you to bring him one of each type of egg, in exchange for a Bunny Day Basket.
• If you learn all 18 Bunny Day DIY recipes, you’ll get a Wobbling Zipper Toy and Bunny Day Wand from Zipper.

March Birthdays

Another month means another round of birthdays to celebrate, whether it’s your fellow villagers or special NPC characters. Find out whose birthday is on what day this month from the list below:

Axel celebrates his birthday in March, along with many other characters.

March Bugs, Fish, and Sea Creatures

With February over and March arriving, it brings new creatures to find and catch, while some may disappear for a while at the end of this month. If you’re an avid creature collector who wants to fill up your Critterpedia and the museum, or you just want to know what’s around this month, you’re looking in the right place. There is a much more detailed guide to bugs, fish, and sea creatures in the month of March, but here’s a quick overview of what you can expect this month in both hemispheres.

Bugs

Let’s start by looking at what bugs you can find in March.

• Northern Hemisphere: Butterflies, bugs, and mantis emerge as spring arrives. The only departure for northern bugs is the Emperor Butterfly.
• Southern Hemisphere: Butterflies, crickets, and other bugs are new this month. On the other hand, a lot of bugs are leaving the south as March comes to a close. These include certain butterflies, beetles, and other bugs.

The Common Butterfly will be a common sight in the south.

Fish

What about fish?

• Northern Hemisphere: New fish include tadpoles, loaches, and cherry salmon. Fish leaving include the stringfish, sturgeon, and tiny sea butterfly.
• Southern Hemisphere: Expect to see pike, salmon, and sturgeon arriving. Lots of fish are leaving, including sharks.

See you later, yellow fellow!

Sea Creatures

Finally, let’s check out what sea creatures are available.

• Northern Hemisphere: New creatures to catch include the chambered nautilus and firefly squid. Only one sea creature will disappear at the end of March: the red king crab.
• Southern Hemisphere: New creatures are arriving, including the oyster and umbrella octopus. There are a few more sea creatures departing the sea, including the sea urchins, giant clam, horseshoe crab, and moon jellyfish.

In the north, the red king crab is the only creature departing the seas.

Seasonal Notes

Seasonally, March is an important mark for the north and south, each for different reasons.

In the north, winter is over. The snow is now gone, having finally melted at the end of February, uncovering grass. You may have noticed that the grass and trees looks a bit dull and off-color, not the spring-like fresh bright green you were expecting. Don’t worry, because the grass will flourish and color will return to your island. As March progresses, you may notice a subtle change as the grass and trees goes from brown to a much brighter and fresher-looking green, particularly in the second half of the month.

In the south, things are a little different. Summer’s over, and fall has arrived. This means the lush green colors you’ve gotten used to in the spring and summer are coming to an end. These will be replaced with warm fall colors of yellows, oranges, and reds, as well as browns. This won’t be instantaneous though. It’ll stay lush and green for a while, until a week or so into March, when you may notice the greens of the grass and trees tinged with yellow.

Whether you’re in the north or south, you’ll notice some subtle changes in the scenery.

That rounds up what’s happening in March in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It may seem like a quieter month, even if Bunny Day does occur in this month, but with spring dawning in the north and summer winding down in the south, there’s always something going on.

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