February Is A Pleather of Treats and Events to Warm Your Heart

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.