NYC events in February 2025

The Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden exhibits thousands of species of beautiful blossoming orchids. The Orchid Show this year will whisk you to Mexico into a paradise of tropical beauty—without ever leaving the Bronx. The show is inspired by the bold, multicolored designs of Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán.

Your ticket will get you daytime access to The Orchid Show, plus all the rest of NYBG's outdoor gardens and collections. If you want to visit after dark, check out Orchid Nights where you can admire the flowers under the twinkling lights of the conservatory with music in the background and a cocktail in hand.

The show runs from February 15 through April 27, 2025.

Chinatown’s annual Lunar (Chinese) New Year Parade is back on February 16, 2025 with dragon dancing, stunning outfits, martial art performers and more. Head to Chinatown for the Lunar New Year Parade, which celebrates the year of the dragon.

On parade day, visit festival booths in the heart of Chinatown on Bayard Street between Mott and Mulberry Streets.

The Lunar New Year parade in 2025 will start at 1pm on Mott and Canal Streets on Chatham Square and will continue through East Broadway before ending next to Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

The Westminster Dog Show its making its grand return to MSG on February 10 and 11 of 2025, bringing back the classic group judging phase of the event and the best in show ceremony while debuting smaller events across other venues, including the 12th annual masters agility championship at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

The Westminster Dog Show involves seven group competitions across several categories including obedience, agility, dock diving and more. 

To learn more information about scheduling and stay up-to-date with announcements in the lead up to the 2025 show, visit the Westminster Dog Show's website or follow them on social media. 

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 10 until mid-April.

Here's a winter-time must in NYC: a round of bumper cars on ice at Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park. 

Officially back for the season, the activity is, as usual, suitable for everyone who is 7 or older and looking to have some laugh-out-loud fun.

The program is open from 2pm to 10pm on Sundays through Fridays and 9:20am to 5:20pm on Saturdays. Given the popularity of the destination, we suggest you buy tickets in advance of your visit right here.

Perhaps your idea of "curling" in the winter involves curling up on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. Honestly, same. But New Yorkers are now invited to shed their blanket cocoons and go curling at Edge in Hudson Yards.

The new pop-up for the winter sport, where players slide stones on a sheet of ice, welcomes all to get their adrenaline flowing from the game—and from the stunning views at the city's highest indoor/outdoor sky deck. In addition to curling, guests at Edge's Sky Chalet can enjoy specialty cocktails and seasonal treats at this wintry escape, which is open from January 17 through March 16.

Tickets, bookable here, include a 50-minute curling session on a private lane, plus access to Edge after your session. Whether you're a beginner or a curling pro, the team at Edge promises you'll pick up the game quickly.

It was only a matter of time until Flaco, NYC's fallen owl king, became the subject of his very own exhibit. The beloved Eurasian eagle-owl used to fly around the city after escaping from the zoo, until he passed away about a year ago. 

"The Year of Flaco," a new exhibit at The New-York Historical Society, is scheduled to run from February 7 through June 6. Featuring photos and videos "documenting Flaco's flight and his new life in the city, along with letters, drawings and objects left at a memorial beneath Flaco’s favorite oak tree following his death one year ago," the program will also examine "the dangers faced by birds in urban environments, legislation inspired by Flaco's legacy and practical steps for creating a safer city for wildlife."

Journey back in time to April 15, 1874 in Paris, when Impressionist painters began creating their groundbreaking work. Through the art and science of virtual reality, you can now join them as they break away from traditional academic painting, focusing instead on capturing light, color and atmosphere in new ways.

Titled "Tonight with the Impressionists: Paris 1874," this VR exhibition will take you back to the streets of 19th-century Paris to meet the artists behind the paintings and experience key moments in the Impressionist movement. Meet Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Degas, and others as they depict everyday life and outdoor scenes with spontaneous brushstrokes and vibrant colors. Expect to spend about 45 minutes fully immersed in their world thanks to your VR headset.

The exhibition was created by Excurio in collaboration with the renowned Musée d’Orsay in Paris. See it at Eclipso, located at 555 West 57th Street. Tickets range in price from $30-$44 depending on the date. 

How is she? Ever since it was confirmed that Audra McDonald would star in the latest revival of Gypsy, Broadway fans have speculated about how Audra would be as Mama Rose—or, more nervously, whether Audra could be Mama Rose, the implacable stage mother who sacrifices everything to make her two daughters into stars. So let’s get that question out of the way up front. How is Audra as Rose? She’s a revelation. 

So, too, is the rest of George C. Wolfe’s deeply intelligent and beautifully mounted production, which comes as a happy surprise.

Having taken the U.K. by storm in productions about the country, culminating in a well-received foray into the West End, this scrappy musical comedy about a wacky real-life British spy operation in World War II now invades New York City.

The entire original company of five re-ups for the Broadway production: co-authors David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts—who wrote the show with Felix Hagan, their comrade in the comedy troupe SpitLip—as well as Claire-Marie Hall and Olivier Award winner Jak Malone. Robert Hastie directs the military mayhem. 

Heading to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play is an iconic night out in NYC. The basketball team made the playoffs recently in the 2020-21 season led by forward Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. 

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.

If Netflix’s Squid Game is one of your favorite shows, you’ll want to try your hand at some of the challeneges at Squid Game: The Experience here in NYC.

Set within Manhattan Mall (100 West 33rd Street by Sixth Avenue), you get into teams of up to 24 people each to complete challenges across 60 minutes, including those that appeared on the TV show (yes, you’ll get to try your hand at the iconic Red Light Green Light) plus a number of brand-new ones built specifically for the experience. Once done playing, you can enjoy a night market offering a variety of Korean and international sweet and savory foods, plus drinks.

Queens Botanical Garden has a beautiful light show you’ll want to see. With over 1 million LED lights, this illuminated trail imitates a lush garden with giant lanterns—including 40 stunning lamp scenes crafted by 150 artisans using 120 tons of steel and 150,000 feet of silk—and brings it to life with acrobatic performers, stone-carving, an artisan market and ambient music.

In the 1950 film masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood glamour is a dead-end street. Stalled there with no one coming to find her—except perhaps to use her car—is Norma Desmond: a former silent-screen goddess who is now all but forgotten. Secluded and deluded, she haunts her own house and plots her grand return to the pictures; blinded by the spotlight in her mind, she is unaware that what she imagines to be a hungry audience out there in the dark is really just the dark.

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 new indoor location with nine pétanque courts adds 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.