* In the run-up to St Patrick’s Day on March 17, Irish bar chain O’Neill’s will attempt to beat the current Guinness World Record for most people Irish Dancing at once.

Currently, the record jig stands at 10,036 people. The 2013 ‘Join The Jig’ event on March 14 will see punters gather at 49 O’Neill’s sites around the nation and, starting at 8pm, dance in unison for five minutes.

Participants will be digitally linked via live stream on the O’Neill’s website: you can watch the mass of dancing drinkers on oneills.co.uk Alternatively, learn the jig yourself at youtube.com/oneillspubs and be a part of Irish history by heading down to Oxford’s own O’Neill’s on George Street.

Other upcoming celebration events will raise money for local hospice Helen & Douglas House, including charity quizzes, auctions and football tournaments – check the website for full details.

The Ashmolean Museum, forever a historical hub for Oxford, is expanding its cultural horizons even further by hosting its first ever hip hop event on February 23.

RAP at the Ashmolean is organised by independent record label BG Records, the Young Women’s Music Project and Oxford-based arts charity Artisjustaword.

The 14+ event will use the museum’s collections and architecture as inspiration, teaching participants how to rap in one of the city’s most iconic locations.

The free event lasts from 11am-4pm. lThose gripped by the recent influx of Scandinavian crime drama will be equally thrilled and thrown by a comedy play taking place at the Mill in Banbury.

Inspector Norse is composed from a variety of North European ingredients: Ikea, Abba, Stieg Larsson, trolls and, most notably, knitwear. Local needle-pushers the Banbury Busy Fingers have lived up to their name by providing an extravagant set of props for the play, including leaves, icicles and body parts for a surreal, stitched autopsy sequence.

Led by comedy duo Lip Service and accompanied by Swedish glam rockers The Northern Lights, the play takes place on February 28 at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £14 on 01295 279002.

* Alluring South African folksters Mr Cat and the Jackal are a theatrical force to be reckoned with: the five-piece band bring their multi-instrumental talents to the Mill Arts Centre on Sunday.

The band, who describe themselves as ‘a circus of sounds created by foreign and handmade instruments’, experiment with musical tropes found in blues, tango, pirate and Irish music, combining musical tradition with award-winning animation and sound effects. Tickets are £8 in advance, call 01295 279002.

* A revival showing of classic 1951 adventure film The African Queen will take place at the Ultimate Picture Palace on March 5.

The screening will help to fund a renovation of Africa’s oldest ship, MV Chauncy Maples, into a floating clinic on Lake Malawi.

It’s also an opportunity to find out more about the ship and its strong connection with Oxford, from its namesake Bishop Chauncy Maples’ work here in the 19th Century to the Cowley-built, second-hand crane that helped to create the 150-tonne steamship in 1898.

Doors at the Cowley Road cinema open at 6.30pm, with tickets costing £12. If you’d like to make an evening of it, grab dinner at nearby restaurant Door 74 first. They’ll donate 20 per cent of your bill to the charity if you quote ‘African Queen’ when booking – just call 01865 203374.

* The Oxford Human Rights Film Festival reaches its 11th anniversary this year, and will showcase ten movies over the course of four days (today until Sunday).

The festival features a variety of eye-opening films, from the story of a Sengalese female rapper and activist in Sarabah (today, 6.30pm, Old Fire Station) to an inspiring mission that engages troubled Eygyptian communities through football in Over The Wall: Football Beyond Borders (February 24, 2pm, Ultimate Picture Palace).

Speakers will host Q+A sessions after each film, giving audience members an extra insight into their enlightening content. It’s free – check out the full programme at www.oxfordhumanrightsfestival.org.

* The Glee Club in Oxford has attracted a host of hilarious talent to their riotous nights of live comedy.

On March 1 and 2, Andrew O’Neill will top a four act line-up with his self-aware jokery, playing on his status as a self-described metalhead, vegan, non-goth, heterosexual transvestite.

O’Neill is a regular at Download Festival and has also been seen in Steve Coogan’s BBC sitcom Saxondale. Joining him are John Fothergill, Sara Pascoe and Mike Gunn. Friday night admittance costs £12.50 or £5 for students; Saturday costs £14.50. Call 0871 472 0400.