March 8-14 agenda: Yves Saint Laurent retrospective in Paris

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Next week's highlights offer several sports-related events in the Gulf region such as the Laureus awards in Abu Dhabi, the launch of the Formula One season in Bahrain and the IAAF Indoor World Championships in Qatar. Game developers and buffs will head to San Francisco and Austin for SXSW, while fashion addicts will flock to the long-awaited Yves Saint Laurent retrospective in Paris, among other events.

Game Developers Conference
March 9-13
Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world's largest industry-only gaming event. More than 17,000 professionals are expected to gather at the GDC in 2010. The event aims to heighten the awareness of gaming around the world and encourages industry members to form local and global ties with other members in the game development community. In 2010 there will be over 400 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions covering the diverse sectors of games - including gaming consoles, handheld devices, cell phones, and of course online and computer games. The event also explores future developments in the field of gaming.
http://www.gdconf.com

ITB Berlin
March 10-14 (Public Days 13-14)
Berlin, Germany

The largest travel fair in the world welcomed 179,000 visitors last year, from 187 countries. Summits on social media and travel, "Aviation Day" and "Hospitality Day" are likely to provide an insight into news and trends in the industry. Turkey is this year's official partner country.
http://www.itb-berlin.de

Laureus awards
March 10
Emirates Palace
Abu Dhabi, UAE

The Laureus World Sports Awards are a chance to honor those athletes whose achievements we have all read about and witnessed over the past 12 months but they are also a chance for the lesser known heroes of world sport to grab a rare place in the spotlight.
http://www.laureus.com

YSL retrospective
March 11 - August 29
Paris, France

The Petit Palais museum in Paris is staging an eagerly awaited fashion retrospective of French designer Yves Saint Laurent who passed away in June 2008.
http://www.petitpalais.paris.fr

Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival
Hong Kong
March 11-19

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this year's festival aims to give lovers of the written word living in Hong Kong an opportunity to meet, to debate and to enjoy conversation. For the 2010, guests include American Book Award winner Alex Kuo, Ramachandra Guha, Vikram Chandra, Murong Xuecun and Les Murray. "From panel discussions to literary lunches, university lectures to the Financial Times debate, the Festival is an intellectual forum as well as an artistic platform," according to organizers.
http://www.festival.org.hk

TEFAF Maastrich 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 31,000m2 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

Motor sports: Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix
March 14
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain

The 2010 Formula One season opens in Bahrain for the second time in the track's six-year history and sees the return of one of the sports' biggest stars: Michael Schumacher will be lining up on the starting grid for the first time in four years, taking Button's vacated seat now that the Brit has joined countryman Lewis Hamilton at McLaren Mercedes. The GP starts at 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT). For those looking to attend in person rather than watch on TV, grandstand tickets range from 45-155 dinars (€88-305) for race day, and not much more for a three-day pass.
http://www.bahraingp.com