Events & festivals in February
11 curated experiences happening in February — festivals, natural phenomena, food seasons, sport. We highlight the off-the-beaten-path versions of famous events.
Festivals & Cultural
🇨🇳
Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival
Harbin · January – mid-February
Football-stadium-sized ice castles lit from within with rainbow LEDs.
Rising
🇯🇵
Sapporo Snow Festival
Sapporo · Early February (1 week)
Two million visitors, hundreds of snow sculptures spanning a 1.
Rising
🇹🇼
Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
Pingxi · 15th day of Lunar New Year (Lantern Festival)
Hundreds of paper lanterns released into a mountain valley after sunset.
Hidden gem
🇧🇪
Carnival of Binche
Binche · Sunday-Tuesday before Lent (Mardi Gras week)
UNESCO-listed Belgian carnival from the 1300s.
Hidden gem
🇧🇷
Carnival in Salvador
Salvador · Friday-Tuesday before Ash Wednesday
Largest street carnival in the world (yes, larger than Rio).
Rising
🇮🇹
Verona in Love
Verona · Around February 14 (4 days)
Romeo and Juliet's hometown turns into a heart-shaped pop-up: red lanterns, opera, free chocolate at Piazza dei Signori, letters to Juliet read aloud at Casa di Giulietta.
Hidden gem
Nature & Wildlife
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Cherry Blossom in Yangmingshan
Taipei · Late February – mid-March
Taipei's cherry blossom season is 4 weeks earlier than Japan's, in a national park 30 min from downtown.
Hidden gem
🇲🇽
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Sierra Chincua · Late October – mid-March (peak: January-February)
100 million monarch butterflies flying 4,500km from Canada to overwinter in 12 Mexican mountain forests.
Hidden gem
🇳🇴
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
Tromsø · Late September – early April (peak: November–February, dark hours)
Tromsø sits in the auroral oval — the band where Northern Lights are most likely.
Mainstream
🇲🇽
Whale Shark Migration
La Paz · October – mid-April (peak: November-March)
La Paz Bay, Baja Sur — juvenile whale sharks (12m long, gentle, plankton-eating) gather close enough to swim with from a boat tour.
Hidden gem
🇧🇷
Iguazu Falls, peak flow
Foz do Iguaçu · November – March (rainy-season peak flow)
275 individual waterfalls, 80m drops, 1.
Mainstream