February 13-14 agenda: Chinese New Year celebrations

(AFP PHOTO/ LIU Jin)

This weekend's selection, Chinese communities throughout the world prepare for New Year celebrations, the Spanish Oscars take place in Madrid, basketball stars play the All-star game in Texas and two exhibitions of French masters open in Los Angeles and Baltimore, among other events.

Goa Carnival
February 13-16
Goa, India

This festival in West India has been celebrated since the 18th century. Huge colorful parades take over the state's cities with bands, floats and dances, while the evenings are characterized with intense partying wherever you are.

www.goa-tourism.com

Valentine's Day
Februrary 14

Chinese New Year celebrations
February 14
China and worldwide

All of China will celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Tiger for weeks leading up to, and following, February 14 with festivals and parades around the country. Though many people hear of the Hong Kong New Year's flower markets, it's the Night Parade on the first evening of the New Year that draws some of the largest crowds. Beijing's temple fairs attract thousands with folk art and performers in both temples and parks around the city. Acrobats, dragon dancers and stilt walkers can be seen amongst the crowds.

Goya Awards
February 14
Madrid, Spain

The front-runners for the equivalent of the Oscar statuettes for the Spanish world comprise Cell 211 by Daniel Monzón with 16 nominations and Agora by Alejandro Amenabar with 13 nominations.

http://www.academiadecine.com

Gay World Ambassador finals
February 10-14
Oslo, Norway

While the Mr. Gay competition was eventually canceled in China last January, the other most beautiful gay males of the world were selected in their home countries. The finalists will all compete in Norway, and the laureate will be crowned on Valentine's Day.

http://www.gayworldambassador.com

New York Toy Fair
February 14 - 17
New York, USA

With 100,000 products with more than 7,000 never-before-seen, over 1200 exhibitors and 1000 global media representatives, the Toy Fair is where the industry gathers. It also gives the latest updates on safety legislation and names the best of the crop at the tenth annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards on February 13.

http://www.toyassociation.org

Basketball: 2010 NBA All-Star Game
February 14
Arlington, Texas, USA

The annual All-Star Game takes place between two teams representing the NBA's Eastern and Western Conference. The starting lineups are decided by public ballot, the results of which were out on January 21, while substitutes are selected via a vote from the NBA teams' head coaches. The match is being televised by the TNT network, whilst ESPN have rights for the events planned for Friday, February 12, including the Celebrity Game.

http://www.nba.com/allstar2010

Cézanne and American Modernism
February 14-May 23
Baltimore, USA

Cézanne and American Modernism brings together 16 landscapes, still lifes, and portraits by the French master with more than 80 paintings, watercolors, and photographs by artists such as Max Weber, Alfred Stieglitz, and Marsden Hartley to show Cézanne's profound impact on American artists at the beginning of the 20th century.

http://www.artbma.org

Renoir in the XXth century
February 14-May 9h
Los Angeles, USA

This exhibition on Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) opening in Los Angeles County Museum of Art was previously seen in Paris. It gathers works from the French artist from galleries scattered throughout the world and will be shown in Philadelphia later in June 2010. It features more than 100 works by Renoir paralleled with paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Bonnard and many others.

ttp://www.lacma.org