The events described in this roundup have taken place.

February arrives with a packed cultural calendar where public celebration meets artistic craft. From carnival streets transformed into moving galleries of costume, music, and performance, to major film festivals and art fairs shaping global conversations, the month offers a vivid snapshot of creativity in motion. In this February in Review, we highlight standout festivals and cultural moments across continents, including landmark gatherings like the Berlinale in Berlin, Mardi Gras traditions in the Americas, and key diaspora-focused platforms such as PAFF in Los Angeles, alongside Haiti’s Carnival, where art and resilience take center stage.

Big February Carnivals and street arts

• Venice Carnival (Venice, Italy) – Jan 31 to Feb 17, 2026
  Venice Carnival is one of Europe’s most iconic celebrations of costume art and theatrical street culture, famous for its handcrafted masks, baroque-inspired outfits, and public performances across Venice’s squares and canals. Throughout the festival, the city becomes an open-air stage where parades, masquerade events, and historical reenactments highlight the deep connection between visual artistry and Venetian heritage.
  
• Rio de Janeiro Carnival (Rio, Brazil) – Feb 13 to Feb 21, 2026
  Rio Carnival is a world-renowned festival where music, dance, costume design, and large-scale stagecraft converge. The headline spectacle is the samba school competition, featuring elaborate floats, choreographed performances, and thousands of performers in intricately designed costumes. Beyond the Sambadrome, neighborhood street parties bring a more grassroots side of Brazil’s living culture.
  
• Mardi Gras, New Orleans (Louisiana, USA)
  Mardi Gras Day: Feb 17, 2026
  Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a major cultural tradition built around parades, float-building, marching bands, and performance that take over the city in the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras Day. Each parade is shaped by “krewes,” community organizations that produce distinctive visual themes through costumes, throws, music, and spectacle, making it a strong example of how public art and civic identity intersect.
  
• Trinidad and Tobago Carnival (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago)
  Feb 16 to Feb 17, 2026
  Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is celebrated for its vibrant “mas” tradition, where costume craftsmanship, choreography, and music create a moving exhibition in the streets. Events such as J’ouvert and the Parade of the Bands showcase everything from paint and powder rituals to high-design costume sections, reflecting the festival’s roots in history, resistance, and creative freedom.
  
• Lunar New Year and Spring Festival (global, many cities)– Begins Feb 17, 2026
  Lunar New Year is marked worldwide through lantern-making, community performances, dance, music, and ceremonial arts, with each region adding its own visual and cultural signature. Public celebrations often include dragon and lion dances, street fairs, and family-centered traditions, making it both an intimate cultural moment and a large-scale arts season in many major cities.
  
• Haiti Carnival (Haiti) — Feb 15–17, 2026
  Haiti’s Carnival is a major national celebration where music, street performance, dance, costume-making, and visual art come together in a powerful display of cultural identity. The peak days, known as Jours Gras, feature parades with musical floats, bands, and costumed revelers, with many communities highlighting local creativity through handcrafted masks and public art traditions. In 2026, the celebrations are expected across multiple cities, with Carnival remaining a symbol of resilience and collective joy.

Major February film festivals

• Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale (Berlin, Germany) – Feb 12 to Feb 22, 2026
  The Berlinale is one of the most influential international film festivals, spotlighting cinema as both an art form and a social lens. It brings together premieres, competition selections, filmmaker talks, and industry events, turning Berlin into a global hub for storytelling, visual culture, and contemporary themes that shape film and media today.
  
• Glasgow Film Festival (Glasgow, Scotland)- Feb 25 to Mar 8, 2026
  Glasgow Film Festival is known for its energetic audience culture and strong lineup of premieres, special screenings, and filmmaker Q&As. The festival celebrates film as a public arts experience, often pairing new releases with live events and discussions that make the city’s venues feel like a shared creative forum.
  
• Pan African Film and Arts Festival, PAFF (Los Angeles, USA) — Feb 7–22, 2026
  PAFF is one of the leading cultural events of Black History Month in the United States, spotlighting Black stories and images through a wide program of film screenings, visual art, and creative events. Founded in 1992, the festival brings together filmmakers and artists from across the African diaspora, creating a space for discovery, dialogue, and representation. Its mix of premieres, exhibitions, and community programming makes it both an arts showcase and a cultural meeting point in Los Angeles.

Major February art fairs and visual arts events

• India Art Fair (New Delhi, India)– Feb 5 to Feb 8, 2026
  India Art Fair is a major platform for modern and contemporary art in South Asia, featuring galleries, curated projects, talks, and special exhibitions. It’s an important meeting point for artists, collectors, curators, and the public, offering a concentrated view of regional and international art conversations in one setting.
  
• Art Fair Philippines (Manila, Philippines)– Feb 6 to Feb 8, 2026
  Art Fair Philippines is a leading contemporary art fair that highlights the Philippines’ dynamic creative scene while welcoming international participation. Alongside gallery presentations, the fair typically features programming such as talks, special exhibitions, and city-wide art energy, helping connect emerging and established artists with wider audiences.

Contemporary culture and performance

• Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival (Sydney, Australia)
  Feb 13 to Mar 1, 2026 and the Parade on Feb 28, 2026
  Sydney Mardi Gras is a major cultural festival where performance, fashion, music, and community arts combine into a powerful public celebration. Its headline parade is both spectacle and statement, while the broader festival program includes events that support LGBTQ+ creativity, visibility, and storytelling across multiple art forms.

Corrected on 2 October 2026. An earlier version of this article said the Venice Carnival ran from 7 to 17 February. The 2026 Venice Carnival ran from 31 January to 17 February.

Sources consulted

Venice Events, Venice Carnival 2026 official dates
The Wom Travel, Carnevale di Venezia 2026: le date ufficiali