Fabulous February 2026
– Free family fun at Forest Park during February School Break! –
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Executive Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management (PBRM) Thomas Ashe, and the Springfield Board of Park Commissioners are happy to announce the 2026 schedule of “Fabulous February!” events.
Fabulous February! is Springfield’s annual winter carnival event at Forest Park that began nearly 50 years ago, coinciding with February school vacation week. Fabulous February will take place this year during the first two weekdays of February school break on Monday February 16th and Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
All are welcome and invited to enjoy this fun winter happening. Forest Park will be jam-packed with activities that inspire families to spend enjoyable time together having fun and relaxing in this beautiful park. Most of this year’s events will take place at the Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center (ECOS) on Porter Lake. The vehicle entrance fee to the park will be waived for this event. Please see below for a full list of activities.
“Our beautiful, historic Forest Park offers something special every season of the year,” shared Mayor Sarno. “We are so proud to offer special events like Fabulous February with many of our wonderful partners so families can come enjoy carriage rides, magic shows, face painting, live ice sculpting, skating with Boomer from our beloved T-birds AHL hockey team, and more right here at home at our iconic Forest Park. So many of us cherish fond memories of spending time at Forest Park with family and friends – for me growing up, parks, especially Forest Park, were my ‘Riviera,’ and this is a special chance while kids are off from to school to explore the Park and enjoy free and family-friendly activities. Thank you to PBRM Director Tom Ashe, Special Events Coordinator Sydney Pasini, our dedicated Parks team and all the partners who make this annual event – which has been going on for almost 50 years – special and enjoyable for all. We hope to see you this year at Fabulous February at Forest Park.”
Tom Ashe, Director of Parks, Budlings, and Recreation Management (PBRM) states, “Fabulous February is wonderful long-running annual tradition that celebrates our Forest Park’s natural beauty and offers some special winter activities, all at no cost to attendees. The dedicated staff in our department continue to do an excellent job hosting this event each year and we look forward to welcoming folks to the Park on February 16th and 17th for this year’s Fabulous February events. We deeply appreciate Mayor Sarno’s commitment to continuing to improve and enhance the enjoyment of our beautiful parks systems, with over $100 million invested in our park system city-wide over the past 17 years. If you have not visited Forest Park in a while you will notice some improvements like the major Monkey House renovations, the installation of the historic-replica Forest Park picnic pavilion and enhanced picnic grove, and the beautiful restoration of the historic Trolley Gazebo right at the main entrance. I encourage everyone to look at the events planned and set time aside to participate and enjoy!”
Fabulous February! is made possible by the generosity of Everett Hosmer Barney.
Visit www.springfield-ma.gov/park-events for details or call 413-787-6434 or 413-787-6435. Pre-registration is required for the Wilderness Adventure program (ages 7–15). Call to register. In the event of rain or snow, Monday’s activities will be rescheduled to Tuesday, February 17. See flyer for full details.
