Events this weekend include The Met’s extravagant Lunar New Year celebration, Figure Skating in Harlem‘s annual winter party and the long-running Dance on Camera film festival at Symphony Space.
There’s also a “Bad Bunny Bowl” in Union Square and free art curated by luxury ready-to-wear fashion designer Clarence Ruth on the Lower East Side.
Outdoors
“Figure Skating in Harlem: Soul On Ice 2026″
Gottesman Rink at the Davis Center —110 Lenox Ave., Manhattan (Harlem)
Sat. Feb. 7, 3- 6 p.m.
With another weekend of bone-chilling temperatures hitting New York City, family and friends are invited to join Figure Skating in Harlem‘s annual winter skating party. The afternoon fun will include performances and a chance for attendees to skate alongside the stars of the Emmy Award-nominated Disney+ “Harlem Ice” series.
All proceeds support the nonprofit organization’s academic and skating programs helping girls of color (ages 6–18) soar in education and life. Founded by Sharon Cohen, the program has served nearly 2,500 girls and young women within Harlem and the surrounding communities.
Tickets are $25.
Celebrate
Lunar New Year Festival
Metropolitan Museum of Art—1000 Fifth Ave., Manhattan (Upper East Side)
Sat. Feb. 7, 12-5 p.m.
Ahead of the holiday, which falls on Feb. 17 this year, The Met is getting a jump on the celebration with its comprehensive collection of Asian art — containing more than 35,000 objects representing Asia’s many civilizations — serving as a backdrop.
This year’s festivities include a lion and dragon dance performance by the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute, a drum dance from New York Korean Performing Arts Center, and a traditional dance from the Vietnam Heritage Center.
The Columbia Wushu Martial Arts team, The AAPI Jazz Collective led by Peter Lin, Sesame Street Muppeteers and storytime reading with “Tomorrow is New Year’s Day” author Aram Kim are also highlights of the day. The museum’s crown jewel Temple of Dendur will serve as a community hub shining a spotlight on AAPI organizations around New York City showcasing art, events, and resources.
“We are thrilled to host our annual Lunar New Year Festival, creating a space for our friends and neighbors to gather and to celebrate these rich traditions with us,” The Met’s education chair Heidi Holder told The Daily News on Wednesday. “The Year of the Horse symbolizes a new chapter of energy and enthusiasm, and we are excited to ring in this spirit … as we invite [all] to dream with us, while the horse is young.”
Free with admission. (Pay-As-You-Wish options available)
Film
Dance On Camera Festival
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space—2537 Broadway, Manhattan (Upper West Side)
Through Feb. 9. Various times.
Lights, camera, action take on a different meaning with this long-running film festival, now in its 54th year. Executive director Cara Hagan has built upon the prolific legacy of the festival’s late founder, Susan Braun, with a robust line-up of 33 films from 12 countries selected from nearly 250 submissions.
A special 75th anniversary presentation of Vincente Minnelli’s classic “An American in Paris” is a highlight this year, alongside Tobin Del Cuore’s Limón Dance Company-focused “Through Memory,” Jennifer Lin’s “About Face: Disrupting Ballet” and the New York premiere of Tara Knight & Rebecca Salzer’s short “the desire of a body toward the center of the earth.”
Tickets are $17 for general admission, plus fees.
Music
Arturo O’Farrill/George Gee Swing Orchestra
Flushing Town Hall—137-35 Northern Boulevard, Queens (Flushing)
Sat. Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m.
For the first-time ever, six-time Grammy-winning Latin Jazz virtuoso Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin Octet will share the stage with George Gee Swing Orchestra for the venue’s “Global Mashup” series. Arrangements from “The Buena Vista Social Club Songbook” will be included throughout the evening, featuring expansive sets from both ensembles.
A dance lesson for the audience led by Latin dance pro Vanda Polakova will kick off the festivities.
Tickets are $30 for general admission.
Art
“Carrom x Clarence Ruth”
Ki Smith Gallery—170 Forsyth St., Manhattan (Lower East Side)
Through Feb. 23, Weds – Sun, 12-6 p.m.
New York-born artist, author and luxury ready-to-wear fashion designer Clarence Ruth is the curator behind this first-of-its-kind exhibition transforming original Carrom game boards into contemporary works of art.
Artists José Manuel Cruz, Bustart, Jeremy Yuto Nakamura, Clarence Heyward, Dynasty Ogun, Soull Ogun, Sebastian Piras, James Rubio, James Reyes, Luke Ivy Price, Sasha Bhasin, Cornelius Tulloch brought their artistic reinterpretations to the popular South Asian tabletop, strike-and-pocket game.
Ruth’s “Oreo” is said to be “a visual representation of how people wear masks everyday to show what others want to see” and invoke the silhouettes of Mickey Mouse and Goofy.
Free.
Family
“First Saturday: Imitate No One”
Brooklyn Museum—200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn (Prospect Heights)
Sat., Feb. 7, 5–10 p.m.
In celebration of Black History Month, the museum’s First Saturday programming is taking inspiration from its landmark exhibition “Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens,” which honors the legendary Malian photographer with more than 280 works of prints, portraits, textiles, and personal artifacts.
And as with all of the landmark institution’s free monthly activities, there will be live music (sung by Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir), poetry (a tribute to Jayne Cortez), tours, talks, art-making, a pop-up market and even magic performed magician Nicole Cardoza.
Free, registration required.
Food
“Bad Bunny Bowl”
Mission Ceviche and Sub-Mission— 7 East 17th St., Manhattan (Union Square)
Sun., Feb. 8.
The Peruvian hot spot is opening its doors for football-loving foodies on the big game day with themed menu items including a red cocktail for New England Patriots fans and a green one to celebrate the Seattle Seahawks. Those will be served alongside Chef José Luis Chávez‘s signature dishes: truffle sliders, mushroom flatbread, crispy rice, and other shareable small plates.
And because Bad Bunny is the halftime show headliner this year, the restaurant will have the six-time, history-making Grammy winner‘s music as its pulsating soundtrack throughout the main dining room and their new speakeasy.
If you have an upcoming weekend event you’d like to submit for consideration in an upcoming roundup, please email: nycevents@nydailynews.com with the full listing details. Consideration does not guarantee inclusion.
