With Black History Month, Fashion Week, Restaurant Week, Broadway discount week, Chinese New Year, Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and of course Valentines Day make February a jammed packed month.
2/ 1 – 3: Celebrate Black History Month with seven films that “explore the history of various music genres with a strong African influence” at Teachers College, Columbia University.
2/ 1 – 3: FrostFest [formerly Winter Carnival] includes an Ice Ball (Jan. 30), a skating show (Feb. 1), skating in kilts (Feb. 2), bumper cars on ice, ice carving, karaoke, live music, food, and drinks at Bryant Park. Mostly free.
2/1 – 8: Get a special deal on a 2-course lunch or a 3-course dinner at 370 restaurants during NYC Restaurant Week. Saturdays excluded, Sundays at some restaurants. Held in January/February and July/August.
NYC Broadway Week
2/ 1 – 10: Get 2-for-1 deals on select theater shows during NYC Broadway Week.
2/ 2: Skate to soul music at Soul on Ice Winter Skating Party, which has ice skating demonstrations, music, and a bake sale at Lasker Rink in Central Park. Your ticket includes skate rental.
2/ 2 – 3: BAMkids Film Festival shows “the best features and shorts from around the world” at BAM Rose Cinemas.
2/ 2 – 20: Don Giovanni is a seduction artist who ends up paying for his immorality in this Italian opera with subtitles at Metropolitan Opera House.
2/ 3 (2 to 4 p.m.): Chinese New Year Family Day has a lion dance, a kung fu demonstration, student performances, dumpling making, and Chinese crafts & games, with free snacks and beverages at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Register online. You only need 1 free ticket per family.
2/ 5 (11 a.m.) New Year Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival, includes 600,000 firecrackers at noon to scare away evil spirits and a festival with dancers, singers, and food vendors at Sara Roosevelt Park. Free.
2/ 6 (7:30 p.m.): New York Philharmonic performs works by Chinese and European composers to celebrate Lunar New Year at David Geffen Hall.
2/ 6 – 10: See 13 rare and underrated films of all kinds at Film Comment Selects at Walter Read Theater.
2/ 7 (7:30 p.m.): The Tibet House Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall raises funds for Tibetan culture. Optional gala party.
Stella Maxwell
2/ 7 – 15: Top models, photographers, and designers attend invitation-only events unveiling fall collections during New York Fashion Week.
2/ 9: Cupid’s Undie Run includes a half-naked run through the streets and a party at Stage 48 to support charity. The 15-minute run starts at 2 p.m. Must be age 21+.
2/ 11: Sample 250 kosher wines and kosher food at Kosher Food & Wine Experience, which includes a live band at Chelsea Piers (Pier 60) for age 21+.
Westminster Dog Show
2/ 11 – 12: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has daytime events at Piers 92/94, with evening events including best-in-show at Madison Square Garden.
2/ 12 (6 to 8:30 p.m.): Enjoy chocolate, appetizers, wine tasting (optional), live music, and a silent auction at Chocoholic Frolic: a Valentine’s Gala for Ripple Effect Artists at People’s United Bank on Park Avenue.
2/ 14: Valentine Tours begin with a candlelit reception, including a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres (7 p.m.) or dessert (9 p.m.), followed by a special group tour after closing time at The Museum of Modern Art.
2/ 14: Register to renew your marriage vows at Love in Times Square on the red glass steps at 6 p.m., or take a photo together in front of the heart sculpture at W. 46th Street & Broadway. Free.
2/ 14 (7 to 8:30 p.m.): Register as a couple for the Valentine’s Day Tango Workshop for a beginner’s tango lesson, sparkling apple cider, chocolate-covered strawberries, and a rose at Triangulo.
2/ 14: Celebrate Valentine’s Day with live jazz, an open bar, chocolate, and hors d’oeuvres, and then sit back for a view of the stars and love stories based on mythology at Romance Under the Stars in Hayden Planetarium.
2/ 14 (7:30 p.m.): Inspired by the lush 19th-century bordellos of Paris and New Orleans, The Poetry Brothel features readings by poets, burlesque, live music, vaudeville, aerialists, visual art, and magic at The Back Room for age 21+.
2/ 15 – 24: Families join their favorite characters as they sing and dance in Sesame Street Live at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
2/16 (meet at 1:30 p.m.): The Amazing Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt begins at Slattery’s Midtown Pub, and then you follow a series of clues around the city performing physical and mental challenges.
2/ 16 (2 p.m.): Take an unblushing look at nudity in art on The Naked at the Met Scavenger Hunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No knowledge of art is required.
2/ 17 (1 p.m.): See colorful floats, marching bands, lion and dragon dancers, antique cars, beauty queens, and performers at Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival. The parade starts at Hester Street, goes south on Mott, east on Broadway, and north on Forsyth to Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Free.
2/ 21 – 24: Order reserved seats for ballroom, Latin, rhythm, and smooth dance heats at New York Dance Festival in ballrooms at the Roosevelt Hotel.
2/ 21 – 24: New York Wild Film Festival screens 28 films about wildlife and wild places at The Explorers Club.
2/ 22 – 3/ 17: New York International Children’s Film Festival shows new, inspiring, and thought-provoking films about youth from around the world, suitable for families.
The Orchid Show
2/ 23 – 4/ 28: The Orchid Show fills the conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden with thousands of orchids in an amazing array of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. Closed most Mondays.
2/ 26 (7 to 9 p.m.): Actress Helen Mirren (winner of an Oscar, a Tony, a Golden Globe, and three Emmy Awards) discusses her film “Woman in Gold” about a painting stolen by the Nazis and claimed by the Austrian government at the Streicker Center (enter on E. 66th Street).
2/ 28 – 3/ 3: Athena Film Festival “showcases films about strong and courageous women leaders in real life and the fictional world” at Barnard College.
2/ 28 – 3/ 10: See the best of contemporary French films, including premieres, plus panel discussions at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. All films have English subtitles.
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