NYC events in February 2026

The Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden exhibits thousands of species of beautiful blossoming orchids, making it one of the best NYC events in February and one of the best things to do in the Bronx. NYBG’s orchid show has been running for more than two decades and has only gotten better year after year.

The Orchid Show this year will explore the connection between natural flora and the concrete jungle "in a dazzling reimagining of the Big Apple, from stoops and slice shops to the subway itself." NYBG’s Orchid show runs from February 7 through April 26, 2026. Tickets are on sale at nybg.org.

New York City Restaurant Week is among the five boroughs’ best food holidays. Traditionally, New Yorkers (and a few lucky tourists) clear their dining schedules and make reservations at the city’s best special occasion spots, high-profile newcomers and all-time favorite restaurants for deals unseen the rest of the year. Hundreds of destinations participate citywide, with menu prices below their typical tabs. 

The campaign will run from Tuesday, January 20 to Thursday, February 12, 2026. That's nearly a month to choose from oodles of NYC classics and recent culinary additions. This winter's price tiers are set at $30, $45 and $60 price tiers for two- and three-course specials during Restaurant Week Winter 2026. 

The Westminster Dog Show is a long-running competition for dogs, with Best in Breed winners advancing to the Group and Best in Show competition at Madison Square Garden. Spectators can watch the dogs compete as well as see them get primped for their show time backstage. You may see some dog breeds you never have before! (At last year's show, the Nederlandse Kooikerhondjes and Grand Bassett Griffon Vendeéns were recognized as a breed for the first time by the AKC.) Owners of show dogs often spend many thousands of dollars on training and grooming.

The Westminster Dog Show takes place on Saturday, January 31, Monday, February 2 and Tuesday, February 3, 2026. Daytime breed juding sessions take place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from 8:30am to 4:30pm and evening sessions are located at Madison Sqare Garden from at 7:30pm on Monday and 7pm on Tuesday. 

Think pink at Watermark, the classic American restaurant on Pier 15 by the Seaport, which is turning into an immersive pink wonderland this month. It's just in time for the peak of New York winter and for Valentine's Day celebrations.

The 10,000 square-foot outdoor bar and restaurant will be lit up in pink hues and be decorated with red flowers, heart installations and mesmerizing twinkling lights. Pink Pier will be open from January 9 until March 1. 

Broadway Week in NYC is a ticket deal offered twice a year by Broadway producers and the municipal marketing bureau New York City Tourism + Conventions. For a limited time, it lets you buy two tickets to Broadway shows for the price of one—including the best Broadway shows and many Tony Award winners. The program is designed to stimulate sales during weeks when Broadway attendance traditionally dips, so everybody wins: The productions get full houses, and savvy audiences get cheap Broadway tickets.

Broadway Week is currently running through February 12, 2026. There is also an Off-Broadway Week, which lasts frrom February 16 through March 12, 2026; tickets go on sale on February 3.

For anyone planning to follow the Winter Games, Bryant Park is positioning itself as a communal viewing headquarters. Throughout February, The Lodge will transform into a prime spot for cheering on Team USA, complete with TVs broadcasting live competitions, themed food and drink specials, a giant medal board and plenty of photo ops (including a podium setup so you can pretend you’ve just medaled yourself).

Bumper cars on ice return from January 9 through February 28, letting visitors bump, spin and slide across the rink in 10-minute sessions that feel more like a carnival ride than a traditional skate (plus you're already seated, so no embarrassing tumbles). Winter Village is open through March 1.

NYC Tourism + Conventions has opened sales for NYC Must-See Week as part of the broader NYC Winter Outing 2026 and the headline offer is simple and tough to beat: you can score two-for-one tickets to nearly 80 of the city’s top museums, attractions, tours and performing arts venues.

The savings window runs from January 20 through February 12, giving you a three-week excuse to finally cross a few things off your “one day” list, without paying full freight. The list includes things like Empire State Building Observatory views, Jazz at Lincoln Center shows, Yankee Stadium tours, Carnegie Hall concerts and cultural heavy-hitters like the Metropolitan Opera and the Museum of the Moving Image, all suddenly twice as tempting when you’re only paying for one ticket.

The big game deserves a bigger watch party!

You're invited to the ultimate all-day football celebration watch party in NYC. Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn, will have all the screens for a good game day watch, plus live tunes from DJ Enuff and Mike Medium. Of course, you'll have your pick of stellar food vendors representing the best food of NYC, including Bark Barbecue, Pastrami Factory and Wayla. Thirsty? We've got all the specials on cocktails, beer buckets and pitchers, plus sips and samples exclusively from WhistlePig Whiskey. Also, don't forget to enter our $3 mystery raffle for a chance to win fun surprises and swag. You can get more tickets with the purchase of beer buckets or pitchers.

Even better? It is all free to attend. So we will see you on game day! 

MoMA Mart is a limited-time pop-up from the MoMA Design Store that turns the mundane task of grocery shopping into a visual prank. Shelves are stocked not with snacks, but with objects that look like food at first glance and then reveal themselves as lamps, clocks, candles, stools and sculptural décor.

“Food has always been a powerful cultural force, and designers are embracing it in fresh, imaginative ways,” said Emmanuel Plat, director of merchandising at the museum, in an official statement. “MoMA Mart brings that creativity to life while drawing a line back to MoMA’s own history of collecting faux-food objects that blur the boundaries between art, humor and daily experience.”

MoMA Mart will run from January 6 through March 29 at both MoMA Design Store locations—SoHo (81 Spring Street) and Midtown (44 West 53rd Street)—and will also be featured online, where people will be able to shop for the various items. As with all MoMA Design Store purchases, proceeds support the museum and its programming.

If you haven't heard, the entire world is currently enveloped in the horny mass psychosis that is Heated Rivalry. Since debuting on Crave in its native Canada and on HBO Max here stateside last November, the queer hockey romance has been a veritable pop-culture phenomenon, titillating TV fans with its secret love affair between two rival professional hockey players and making stars out of its leads Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie (who play Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, respectively). 

On February 1 at 2pm, a Heated Rivalry lookalike contest will take over Washington Square Park. Brooklyn Comedy Collective will have a "Heated Rivalry but GAYER" improv night on February 7 at 8:30pm. And on February 13 from 4pm to 7pm, Monarch Rooftop Lounge is hosting a Galentine’s Day Re-Heated Rivalry Watch Party.

After a brief winter hiatus, one of Brooklyn’s most reliably electric nights out is officially back. Brooklyn Museum has announced the return of its beloved First Saturdays, kicking off the 2026 season on February 7 with a packed, after-hours celebration timed to Black History Month.

If you’ve never been, First Saturdays is the museum’s long-running, community-centered series—and it’s completely free. Expect live music and performances by Brooklyn-based artists, curator-led exhibition tours, film screenings, art-making activities, pop-up talks and a local marketplace, all unfolding across the museum well after regular closing hours. It’s been a staple since 1998 and remains one of the city’s best arguments for why museums shouldn’t feel hushed or precious after dark.

The February edition, called "Imitate No One," honors artists who reimagine tradition while building community. The night takes its name from poet Jayne Cortez’s rallying cry and includes a tribute to her legacy with a performance by her band, The Firespitters, alongside readings by contemporary poets influenced by her work.

First Saturdays are free, but registration is required and includes general museum admission. The series continues March 7 with Women’s History Month programming, followed by editions celebrating poetry, AAPI heritage, Pride Month and Caribbean culture through the summer.

On February 12, the Museum of the City of New York will debut "He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model," the first New York City exhibition of the monumental, TikTok-famous scale model of the five boroughs. Queens native Joe Macken, 63, crafted the 50-by-30-foot creation across 350 panels over the course of more than two decades.

Macken started the project in 2004 at his home in Clifton Park, New York, armed with an X-Acto knife, balsa wood, Styrofoam and Elmer’s glue. Since then, he’s carved nearly a million tiny buildings to scale. (Every inch of the model represents 160 feet, meaning the Empire State Building clocks in at just under 8 inches.) Macken started with Rockefeller Center before working block by block through the boroughs. One neighborhood he didn’t need a map for? His original stomping grounds of Middle Village, Queens. “I knew every block,” he told CBS New York.

Start your week with strategy, connection and great vibes at Mahjong Mondays. 

Join us for a relaxed yet lively evening of mahjong at Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn. So Bam Fun will be in the house, hosting lessons for beginners who are ready to learn the fundamentals of the time-honored game. More experienced? Drop in for open mahjong and connect with other players. While you play, enjoy delicious food from 17 kitchens and sip on drink specials from our bars (especially if you visit during happy hour!). Cheers to making Monday nights something to look forward to.  

Beginner lessons are priced at $50, while open play is $25. Tiles will be provided, but you are more than welcome to bring your own. Food and drink are available for additional purchase. 

For the second year in a row, floral design studio POPUPFLORIST is bringing back its citywide Love Letter Gallery, a Valentine’s-season project that invites New Yorkers to put pen to paper and say exactly how they feel about a person, a place, a memory or the city itself. Red mailboxes will pop up at more than a dozen local businesses, including Big Night, The Elk, Tarin Thomas and Bon Bon, turning everyday errands into low-key romantic gestures.

From there, the POPUPFLORIST team, led by founder Kelsie Hayes, will select 30 standout notes to serve as the heart of a one-day exhibition, where each message is paired with a custom floral installation inspired by its words. This year’s Love Letter Gallery will open to the public on February 7, with free registration for a full day of wandering, reading and quietly falling in love with strangers’ handwriting at HOST on Howard.

Kids’ Night on Broadway is officially back and for one night only this February, where kids and teens can see a Broadway show for free—that means no lottery, no rush line and no elaborate budgeting required. The annual program, run by The Broadway League, returns on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, offering free tickets for anyone 18 and under when accompanied by a full-paying adult. The deal applies to 18 Broadway productions, including a mix of family favorites, buzzy newcomers and long-running classics. 

This year’s lineup also includes Aladdin, All Out: Comedy About Ambition, & Juliet, Buena Vista Social Club, Chicago, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Lion King, Maybe Happy Ending, MJ, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Operation Mincemeat, The Outsiders, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and Wicked.

Ticket on-sale details are coming soon. To get the first alert, families can sign up for the free Broadway Fan Club at KidsNightonBroadway.com (ages 13 and up).

Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with a little dance party at Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn. DJ LSJ and special guests will be spinning the best R&B and hip-hop, setting the perfect vibe to dance, groove and feel the love. Next to curated sets all night long, you can sip on love-inspired drinks and capture the most memorable moments with your friends or that special someone in our photobooth. We are also giving away swoon-worthy prizes, including a magnum of prosecco, two $35 Time Out Market gift cards, two ice skating tickets at Time Out Market, Union Square, and—the ultimate prize—a one-night stay at a luxurious hotel. Looking to win for your sweetie? All you have to do is enter our raffle.  

The party goes down on Valentine's Day, February 14, from 9pm to 1am. Come celebrate love, music and good vibes in the heart of Brooklyn. 

Can you believe Survivor has survived 50 seasons? The iconic show is back on February 25 and the Paley Center is celebrating the milestone. If you're a fan of Survivor, you won't want to miss "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: Celebrating 50 Seasons of Survivor."

Opening February 20 and running through May 31, the exhibit will be an immersive, nostalgia-heavy tribute to the CBS juggernaut. It will feature some of the show's most memorable moments and will give visitors the chance to step into the winner-takes-all world of Survivor.

The exhibit celebrates 50 seasons with actual items from the show and plenty of behind-the-scenes photos. There will be authentic outfits worn by Jeff Probst and castaways, immunity idols and necklaces and a torch snuffer. View original sketches for logos, sets and props. There’s even a chance to snap a pic with the iconic torch and sit at a replica Tribal Council.

Dust off your popcorn instincts and your sense of wonder: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is officially returning to New York this winter. The “Greatest Show on Earth”—which now boasts a reimagined, all-human spectacle—will land in New York City for two short stints, first at Barclays Center from February 19–22, followed by UBS Arena from March 6–8. 

The two-hour show is powered by live music, DJ-driven transitions and constant movement across the arena floor. Acts come from around the world, including a Colombian acro-salsa troupe that turns dance battles into airborne events; a U.S.-based contortionist who treats flexibility like a superpower; and acrobatic bike and hoop-diving performers from China. You can expect aerial stunts, precision balance work and large ensemble moments.

For the first time in its 203-year history, the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative is opening its selling floor to the public with a new immersive dining and cultural series called Fish Market Monologues. The Bronx institution, which quietly supplies nearly half of New York City’s seafood, is flipping the switch from wholesale to experiential with a slate of events that blend food, music and storytelling in its facility in Hunts Point.

The series kicks off on Friday, February 14, with “Absinthe & Oysters: A Forbidden Valentine’s,” a one-night-only experience. From 7 to 10 pm, guests will dine among crates and stainless steel counters on overflowing seafood towers stacked with oysters, clams and prawns, followed by Hidden Fjord salmon and paella. Live Latin jazz will set the mood and the evening includes a guided absinthe ritual inspired by the spirit’s deep ties to the city’s waterfront history.

And then there’s the twist: a limited number of premium tickets include access to hot tub “stations” installed directly on the market’s selling floor, allowing guests to eat, drink and soak simultaneously. Yes, it’s exactly as unhinged as it sounds.

The Union Square Partnership (USP) is graciously adding some light and liveliness to the darkest time of the year with its new interactive art installation, "Patterned Behavior" by MASARY Studios, on view every evening (dusk to 10pm) from now through Tuesday, February 17. 

Located at Union Square Park’s North Plaza and Pavilion on 17th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South, “Patterned Behavior” acts like an urban musical instrument, using architecture as a structure to “play” with sound production. Each evening’s illumination is shaped by the thousands of pedestrians that pass through Union Square every day, turning the footsteps and rhythms of passersby into a dynamic audio-visual composition with infrared sensors triggering synchronized light displays that depict how people come together in the area.

You don’t need a time machine or a transatlantic flight to step inside ancient Rome’s most infamous arena. Starting on February 3, a new immersive virtual reality experience at Eclipso NYC promises to drop visitors right into the heart of the Roman Empire: the Colosseum, circa 2,000 years ago.

Called “Colosseum: The Legendary Arena,” the experience is a free-roaming VR production that lets guests walk through the arena rather than passively watch it. After a short onboarding, you’ll put on a headset and physically move through a meticulously recreated version of ancient Rome—including markets, city streets and, finally, the Colosseum itself.

“Colosseum: The Legendary Arena” is located at Eclipso NYC, located at 555 West 57th Street. Tickets start at $31.

Kick off your weekend with a little action at Game Night Fridays at Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn. Challenge your friends to your favorite board and card games, always free, always on Friday. To set the vibe, DJ Stretch and DJ Price Is Right will be spinning music all night long. It all goes down on our fifth-floor rooftop, complete with incredible views of the skyline. Whether you’re a competitive gamer or just here for the music and drinks, Game Night Fridays is your new end-of-week tradition. 

Game Night Fridays goes down every Friday from 7pm to 11pm. 

Dubbed the Winter Realm Cinema, the new screening series from Rooftop Cinema Club is a (graciously) fully enclosed and heated rooftop experience made for family movie night, a sweet winter date or simply a novel alternative to your local AMC theater. (Don't come for us, Nicole Kidman.) The wintry concept opened to the public last month and will have screenings throughout February, with tickets available now for lovey-dovey favorites like 10 Things I Hate About You, La La Land, Pride & Prejudice and more. Check out the full lineup here.

The club will also be pouring out winter-inspired specialty cocktails in addition to its usual assortment of classic concessions and light bites. That means you can enjoy a little Twilight with an "Evergreen Path" (gin, rosemary simple syrup, lemon juice and soda), The Notebook with a "Spiced Velvet Chai" (vodka, hazelnut liqueur and chai) and more.

The New York Comedy Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its inaugural edition, running February 15–22, with screenings and events taking place at venues including Asylum NYC and the Baruch College Performing Arts Center. Spanning a full week, the festival aims to showcase the range of comedic storytelling on screen, from broad laughs to darker, more experimental takes, across features, shorts, series and documentaries.

Among the most notable films screening this year is Before We Get Started, a documentary that shines a light on the often unseen role of stand-up warm-up comedians, featuring appearances and commentary from figures like Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Howie Mandel, Nikki Glaser, Seth Meyers and others. The documentary lineup also includes the opening night selection You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, which explores a pivotal moment in comedy history and its ripple effects across film and television.

If you ever lost an afternoon chasing ghosts, the Paley Museum has your next field trip lined up. The midtown mainstay is celebrating one of gaming’s most beloved icons with a new exhibit, “45 Years of PAC-MAN,” running now through May 31.

The show traces how a simple yellow circle dreamed up in Japan in 1980 by designer Toru Iwatani grew into a global pop-culture heavyweight. At the exhibition, visitors can jump straight into the action with classic Pixel Bash arcade cabinets, competitive rounds of PAC-MAN Battle Royale Chompionship and newer titles like PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC. There’s also a chance to tackle what the museum bills as the world’s largest PAC-MAN. 

Beyond the gameplay, the exhibit digs into the design moves that made the franchise so influential, like introducing power-ups, giving enemies distinct personalities and using sound and animation to turn pixels into emotion. 

One of the Bryant Park's most popular cold-weather diversions—iceless curling—is officially returning in February, and this time it’s dropping the reservations and price tag entirely. After several seasons as the reservation-only Curling Café, Bryant Park is rebooting the experience as a free, first-come, first-served activity focused purely on the game. There are now no bookings, no food-and-drink minimums and no pressure to linger longer than your competitive spirit allows.

From February 6 through February 26, 2026, iceless curling lanes will pop up just east of the skating rink as part of Bank of America Winter Village. The lanes will be open daily from 11am to 7pm, welcoming anyone who wants to try their hand at sliding stones toward the bullseye, Olympic-level finesse not required.

Skip the apps this Valentine's Day and experience Brooklyn's most exciting singles event: The Match.Box Valentine's Party at Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn. Designed for singles in their 30s and 40s, this curated matchmaking night will use real conversations and Match.Box's algorithm to pair you with people who actually click. 

Here's how it works: when you arrive, you'll check in and grab your Match.Box card. There, you will answer a few fun questions to spark compatibility. Throughout the night, you'll mingle in small groups guided by our matchmaking hosts. By the end of the night, you'll find your No. 1 match. 

Tickets are $28. Register here. 

Heading to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play is an iconic night out in NYC. Our homegrown baskeball team will play the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons and more throughout the month of February. Catch them at MSG now!

Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology is a unique new immersive museum created by Roy Nachum, the artist behind Rihanna’s famous 2016 “Anti” album cover, and his business partner Michael Cayre, a real estate developer. 

The 36,000-square-foot space is found at 21 Dey Street, inside the bank building that used to be part of the now-nextdoor Century 21. There are a total of 15 different rooms to explore, each one attacking all the senses upon entrance.

Some outstanding installations include the one that the staff refers to as "The Dragon," where a total of 500,000 individual LED lights hung on strings adorn a room and are lit up to created 3D videos, including one of a galloping horse, that will catch your attention.

Battle your friends in a game of pétanque at Carreau Club in Industry City, the nation’s first pétanque bar. For the uninitiated, pétanque (pronounced puh-TONK) is a bocce-ball style French boules sport gaining popularity in the U.S., starting here in NYC.

This indoor location with nine pétanque courts has 6,000 square feet to the existing 2,000 square-foot outdoor space. 

Carreau Club also delivers with a full bar, craft beer, wine and cocktails. Plus, a small deli counter will serve French-inspired salads, crispy socca waffles, pissaladière (flatbreads), and sandwiches including lamb merguez “mitraillette,” jambon beurre, and pan bagnat. It’s a perfect place to stay inside all day and have fun.

New York City is full of free outdoor art that you don't even have to go to a museum to see. Sculptures, murals and photographs can be found in its parks, sidewalks and on its buildings!

Best of all, it costs you nothing to pay a visit. Below, find the best outdoor art in NYC to brighten up even the coldest winter day.

One of the best things to do in February is celebrate Black History Month. NYC offers many ways you can show your appreciation for African-American culture. Art shows, musical performances and special dining events are on the list for this year.

To help you have an enjoyable time on and around February 14, we’ve come up with Valentine’s Day ideas that should help you plan the Goldilocks of dates: one that’s not too cheap, not too expensive, not too over the top and not too uncaring—it’ll be just right.