March 12 agenda: TEFAF, arts and antiques fair in the Netherlands

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Friday's highlights offer the biggest art and antiques fair in the world in Maastricht, the IAAF Indoor World Championships in Qatar. Game buffs and professionals will head to Austin for SXSW while the National Book Critics Circle Awards ceremony will take place in New York, among other events.

TEFAF Maastricht Arts and Antiques Fair
March 12 -21
Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre
Maastricht, The Netherlands

TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) is the world's leading Arts and Antiques Fair. Last year the fair attracted close to 68,000 visitors. In 2010 a record number of more than 260 art and antiques dealers will travel to the fair from 17 countries. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to view approximately 50,000 stunning examples of art and artifacts from across the globe. Because of the size of the fair (at 31,000 square meters it would fill about seven football fields) the event is divided into nine sections that represent all the different forms of art and antiques. A new section has been added this year that is entirely dedicated to works on paper.
http://www.tefaf.com

National Book Critics Circle Awards ceremony
March 12
New York, NY, USA

Among the most prestigious literary awards in the USA, the National Book Critics Circle Awards honor books all published in English, including translations. NBCC winners in the categories of autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, and nonfiction are selected by more than 600 of the nation's literary critics. Among nominees for the 2010 fiction prize are Man Booker Prize-winner Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and National Book Award finalists American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell and Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips. American author Joyce Carol Oates will receive a lifetime achievement award at the NBCC awards ceremony.
http://bookcritics.org


Athletics: IAAF World Indoor Championships
March 12-14
Doha, Qatar

With events in track racing, long and high jump, shot put and pole vault among others, the IAAF World Indoor Championships occur every two years, in tandem with the Outdoor version. Day tickets cost from 10 QAR (€2).
http://www.doha2010wic.com

South by Southwest festival
March 12-21
Austin, Texas, USA

Part of the South by Southwest (SXSW) festivals, the interactive strand brings together video game demonstrations and hands-on sessions with a game design competition and seminars. The annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference & Festival attracts nearly 12,000 attendees, and the city of Austin swells with music lovers who travel to hear the nearly 2,000 top-notch bands who play on 80 stages around the city. SXSW has so far announced more than 50 of the acts scheduled to perform during the 2010 conference week, scheduled for March 17-21.
http://sxsw.com