February may be short but there's a lot to cram in this month across the UK. Whether you're celebrating Chinese New Year, attending London Fashion Week, or spoiling your loved one on Valentine's Day, we've got you covered.

Sherelle Residency @ the Phonox London

Since turning heads (and causing whiplash) with one of the most celebrated Boiler Room’s to date, Sherelle has gone from strength to strength. Dubbed as the most ‘exciting young DJ in the UK’, trailblazer Sherelle has landed a four week residency every Friday in February at the Phonox in Brixton.

 

The club has hosted huge names such as Palms Trax, HAAi and Saoirse over the years. Speaking on the new partnership, Columbo Group (who owns Phonox) released in a statement: “It’s an honour” and warn revellers “it’s gonna get rowdy.”

 

Limited £5 tickets available here. This isn’t one to miss.

 

BFI Future Film Festival

Taking place over four days in February from the 17th-20th, The British Film Institute’s Future Film Festival is dedicated to showcasing the best young, emerging, filmmaking talent. Now in its fourteenth run, for the second year in a row the festival will be completely free and held virtually.

 

Created to help 16-25 year old’s break into the industry, whether you have shot some footage on your phone or have all the gear, all are welcome to participate. There will be a focus on honing storytelling skills as well as breaking down career pathways and providing networking opportunities.

 

Forty five short films whittled down from over 1000 submissions sent in from all over the world will be screened over the four days. These will all be available to watch on the BFI Player. This year the BFI Future Film Festival has partnered up with Netflix and Blackmagic Design.

Nature Illuminated London

If you’re mourning the loss of all the spectacular light shows and trails across the Capital over the Christmas period, Nature Illuminated light festival is coming to London this February. With mesmerising light displays, immersive soundscapes and spectacular artistic projections, you can expect to be taken on a magical, sensorial adventure that brings the four seasons to life.

 

Take a stroll through an autumnal forest illuminated by hundreds of lights flashing red, orange and yellow, immersing you in the tapestry of falling leaves. The autumnal landscape shifts into a winter wonderland blanketed in white twinkling lights. With Spring, the flowers emerge and the grass turns green, while Summer transports you to the warmth.

 

The winter trail takes about 45-60 minutes. Tickets are available to buy here.

Space, The Universe and Everything at Liverpool Cathedral

Every evening from the 18th-27th of February, the gothic architecture of Liverpool Cathedral will become the canvas for another awe-inspiring light installation. Visitors will be transported to the cosmos through use of lights, projections and sounds.

 

Peter Walker, the sculptor behind the project, says: “Liverpool Cathedral has an amphitheatre of space about it and to fill such a vast area of Gothic architecture with galaxies and the universe is going to be absolutely phenomenal.

 

Mankind has only scratched the surface of space discovery and this artwork explores the amazing wonders of the universe, capturing the excitement of what the next steps might be as we see far away galaxies emerge before us. ‘Space, The Universe and Everything’ gives visitors the chance to lose themselves in space and time as we take them from the first step on the moon to the edge of the universe and back again in just one night. It really will be an unforgettable experience.”

 

Dark Skies Festival

If you fancy witnessing the wonders of the universe first hand (and braving the cold), get involved in the Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival. National Parks are some of the darkest places in Britain and are the perfect backdrop to nurture that interest in astronomy.

 

Discover activities at night to heighten the senses such as night runs, zip wires, kayaking and biking, astrophotography workshops, stargazing safaris, children’s trails and mindful experiences. There will also be a dark skies exhibition, art workshops, new moon gatherings and stargazing at spectacular sites such as Aysgarth Falls and Gilling Castle.

 

The festival is running from the 18th February till the 6th March.

The Collaboration at The Young Vic

Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and written by Anthony McCarten, The Collaboration explores the partnership between two of New York’s brightest art stars Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

 

Warhol is played by Paul Bettany while the enigmatic Basquiat is portrayed by Jeremy Pope. Warhol’s heyday is drawing to a close while Basquiat’s star is only ascending higher and higher. When Basquiat agrees to work with Warhol on a collaborative exhibition, the art world holds its breath in anticipation for witnessing the ‘greatest exhibition in the history of modern art’.

 

The play examines the deep, intimate relationship shared between the two legendary artists as they embark on a creative journey that redraws the parameters of their worlds.

 

The play opens at the Young Vic from the 23rd February.

 

 

V&A Exhibitions – From Fabergé to Beatrix Potter

There’s a lot to catch at the V&A this February. Immerse yourself in the jewel-studded world of master Russian goldsmith Carl Fabergé, famous for creating the ultimate symbol of decadence and extreme wealth: the Fabergé Egg. The exhibition explores the Anglo-Russian relationship that led to the opening of a Fabergé branch in London in 1903.

 

As it’s also February half-term this month, for something more family-friendly book tickets for the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition opening on the 12th of February. The exhibition celebrates the works and life of one of the most beloved English children’s author of the twentieth century. In collaboration with the National Trust, discover the other facets to Potter’s life as a scientist and conservationist, taking a journey through places and things that inspired her most well-loved characters.

Events at the Truman Social Club

The Truman Social Club in East London is hosting a myriad of markets and events in the month of February. The DIY Art Market takes place on Saturday the 12th February and will celebrate over 80 different artist’s work, showcasing everything from zines and prints to jewellery and sculptures. If ceramics are what you desire, there will also be the Independent Ceramics Market on the same day with over 40 ceramists and DIY potters in attendance. The markets will run from 11AM-5PM and are only £1 entry.

 

The next day The Truman Social will host the first ever Walthamstow Record Fair. With over 30 tables of records, including indie record labels, record stores, and hifi dealers, this is truly vinyl heaven. Later on in the month on the 27th of February, The Walthamstow Flea Market sets up shop. Come treasure hunt for pre-loved items to spruce up your space or your wardrobe. You’re sure to find a bargain.

London Fashion Week

With London Fashion Week running this February from the 18th to the 22nd, there’s a schedule of events and talks you can attend if you want to get your fashion fix.

Valentine’s Day at Opium Chinatown

If the way to your lover’s heart is through their stomach, treat your loved one to Opium Chinatown’s Valentine’s Day offer for an unforgettable evening of dim sum, cocktails and egg custard tarts. Opium is a 1920s Shanghai themed cocktail bar and dim sum parlour arranged over two floors. With three bars to choose from all serving different cocktails, you can curate your perfect evening.

 

Their Valentine’s Day package (which is £50 for 2 people) includes champagne upon arrival, a dim sum platter to share, one sharing cocktail and two custard tarts. Or, you can level up with their premium package that includes a bottle of champagne and two dim sum platters.

 

The offer is available from the 13th to the 15th February and needs to be prepaid in advance. Tickets here.

Valentine’s Vivaldi by Candlelight

For a more sophisticated Valentine’s Day option, treat your loved one to a night of classical music in St. James Piccadilly. The Piccadilly Sinfonietta will be performing a stunning selection of classical pieces featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and other timeless works, under candlelight of course. You can’t get more romantic than that.

 

This magical evening won’t be easy to forget. Find out more here.

Celebrate Chinese New Year in Manchester’s China Town

Join in the festivities this year as Manchester’s China Town celebrates The Year of the Tiger. The streets will be transformed with lanterns and delicious food stalls with singing and traditional acrobatic performances set to keep you entertained. The star of the show is the Dragon Parade which will see a 175 foot paper dragon take to the streets followed by a troupe of dancers and drummers. The performances will take place from 11am-7pm on the 6th of February.

 

To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Tiger, a towering feline sculpture will take watch over St Ann’s Square, on display from the 1st of February to the 6th. Appeared to be made of cardboard, the sculpture is in fact made of wood and recycled corrugated plastic, linking the natural world of the Tiger to the industrial world in which it stands.

Kitsuné Club Night – French Kiss Edition

The Kitsuné Club Night is back with their Valentine’s French Kiss Edition. Hit up Village Underground for a night of romance on the dancefloor on Friday the 11th of February. With a warm up set from Athlete Whippet, COEO spinning house and Girls of the Internet performing their disco inspired tracks live, this night is set to be a banger. Get tickets for you and your significant other before they sell out.

 

 

Queer Contact Festival 2022

 

The Queer Contact Festival returns to Manchester in 2022, offering a platform to a broad array of queer experiences that promise to both excite and educate this February.

 

Crafted with careful consultation from the city’s young queer community, the Festival boasts an impressively eclectic lineup. Drag king troupe Pecs: King of the North kicks off the festivities with exuberant comedy and dance alike, before The Enby Show hosted by Carrot brings together some of the most exciting gender nonconforming talent the city has to offer.

 

It’ll also platform some truly idiosyncratic queer creatives such as Charje Kunda, who will share early-stage material ruminating on issues such as working class transmasculinity and bisexual bliss as part of the festival’s Scratch day. The Untold Orchestra, a diverse Manchester-based collective of 15 queer artists, will also take listeners on a musical journey through queer history.

 

The festival runs from 11-19 February, and you can find out more about it here.

Surrealism Beyond Borders At The Tate Modern

 

A new exhibition at the Tate Modern is always an event, and this is no exception. The London museum’s new exhibition, Surrealism Beyond Borders, takes a more up-to-date approach to surrealism than the traditional 1920s-centric understanding, platforming global works of surrealism from the last 50 years from locations such as Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Cairo and more, to show how surrealism has so often functioned as a tool of political liberation.

 

The exhibition opens on 24th February, and is taking bookings here.

Leicester Comedy Festival

 

If the winter blues are getting you down – and you also happen to live in Leicester – laughter might be the cure. The Leicester Comedy Festival is underway, containing over 500 individual comedy shows of huge variety to help tickle those laughter muscles. Handily, if you don’t happen to live in Leicester, dozens of the shows will be streamed online by NextUp, so you can enjoy the fun from your own sofa and/or bed.

 

The festival has begun, and is set to continue until 20th February. Find out more about both the in-person and streamed shows here.