You'll notice it when walking around the center early in the morning, when the sun filters behind the Duomo, lighting Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the saffron yellow of the facades of Milano’s neoclassical buildings with its golden light.

A tinge of yellow that also colors the facades of the traditional railing houses on the Martesana and Navigli Canals, while all the neighborhoods of the city express various shades of yellow: from the gold of the Haunted House of the Fondazione Prada to the saffron of the historic Carrelli tram (1928) that still runs across the city and is now on exhibit at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci.

For an unusual – and sustainable – tour of Milano, get on board of tram #10: from the Central station you can get by trolley to the Darsena, stopping at the Arco della Pace and Chinatown, two places that you really can't miss during your February in Milano.

In Via Paolo Sarpi, the red and gold of the traditional lanterns welcome visitors to the Chinese neighborhood. Milano's Chinatown is preparing to celebrate New Lunar Year: on February 10th the year of the Green Wooden Dragon begins and the whole city is ready to join the celebrations and parties for the occasion (parade to be confirmed). You can try out the special menus prepared by the local restaurants, which offers a perfect mix of styles and cultures. Dumplings, bao and skewers are a must, but alongside Chinese venues and Asian street food, you can also find pizzerias, pastry shops, wine bars and karaoke bars that stay open late in the night.

Grey, warm yellow, midnight blue, lavender, chocolate, red, and nude colors dominated the catwalks in 2023. We’ll see what chromatic trends and palettes the Milano Fashion Week Women's returning in February will dictate for the women’s collections of 2024-25.

From 20 to 26 February the new women's fashion collections for the fall will be presented, with fashion shows projected on big screens in Piazza San Babila and around the city. The Fashion Hub organized by Camera della Moda is once again open to the public at Palazzo Giureconsulti in Via Mercanti, while at the Museum of Fashion of Palazzo Morando in the heart of Quadrilatero della Moda, there is the exhibition by "Daniele Tamagni" opening on 8 February: a photographer who through his shots has captured how creativity in emerging continents has modified the aesthetic canon of Western culture.

Just a few days and it’s time for Valentine’s Day (Milano is for lovers, discover here the most romantic places in the city) and Carnival, which in Milano lasts four days longer than the rest of Italy, until Fat Saturday, which this year falls on February 17th: you can taste the typical tortelli and chiacchiere and it won't be difficult to notice confetti thrown with abandon and kids in colorful costumes walking around the streets.

The traditional mask of Milano? For the Commedia dell'Arte it’s Meneghino, but for the history of the city it is Harlequin, brought on stage by Giorgio Strehler, who embodies the spirit of the carnival in Milano. Staged for the first time in 1947 at the Piccolo Theater "Harlequin servant of two masters" has been an enduring success, making the mask of Italian and Milanese carnival universal.

Goldoni's comedy returns this year to the stage of the Piccolo in July and is already sold out, demonstrating how the comedy and drama are very much alive in Milano. With over 60 stages and movie halls and an exceptional program of films, plays and concerts, going to the theater part of the city’s lifestyle in MIlano. Opera, drama, dance, musicals, stand-up comedy: you can find a show suited to your tastes every day. And while waiting for the curtain to rise, you can visit the Teatro alla Scala Museum: one of its rooms is dedicated to the masks of the Commedia dell'Arte that each year enliven the Carnival.

Picasso was great admirer of Harlequin, and from 1901 to 1936 he painted dozens of blue, pink, cubist, and neoclassical Harlequins. This year Milano devotes two exhibitions to the Spanish master. The first is “Picasso. The metamorphosis of the human figure”, which opens on February 22nd at the MUDEC - Museum of Cultures. Across paintings, drawings, African artifacts and masks, the exhibit tells of Picasso's love for the art of distant continents.

For February is a month of new major exhibitions in Milano. At Palazzo Reale, from 24 February, 90 paintings, oils and pastels celebrate Giuseppe De Nittis, a great Italian artist in 19th century in Paris, where he was considered an equal by Manet, Degas and the impressionists.

Milano is also in love with photography, either in black and white or with flashy colors. From February 10th at MUDEC, there is “Martin Parr. Short & Sweet” an exhibit of over 200 pictures in collaboration with the Magnum Agency, where the English visual artist alternates reportage and documentary photography without filters or rhetoric.

“Brassaï. The eye of Paris. Works 1930 – 1958” arrives at Palazzo Reale from 23 February: working in close relationship with artists such as Picasso, Dalí and Giacometti and writers like Henry Miller and Jacques Prévert, starting from 1924 the Hungarian photographer captured on his camera film the great ferment that made Paris the cultural capital of Europe during the years of Surrealism.

If you love contemporary art, then “Chiara Camoni. Calling a gathering. Sisters. Moths and flames. Bones of lionesses, stones and she-snakes” is for you. The exhibit opens on February 15th at Pirelli HangarBicocca. She is one of the most important Italian artists of her generation, creating works out of domestic objects or organic materials such as weeds, berries and flowers.

In February the nerazzurri (FC Inter) and rossoneri (AC Milan) play at the San Siro Stadium in two major international matches.

Milan starts first with the Europa League tournament, playing against Rennes on February 15th at 9pm. A curiosity: both teams have red and black jerseys.

Inter instead will play a Champions League game: on 20 February at 9pm they host Atlético Madrid, in a match valid for the title of queen of Europe that is bound to excite the Curva Nord that hosts the most fanatic supporters of the team.

If you want to discover the history full of trophies of the two Milano teams and admire the memorabilia of the great players and trainers who made the history of world football, visit the San Siro Museum next to the stadium (M5 San Siro Stadio).