February 8-14 agenda: Vancouver Winter Olympics open

This week, the Americas are full of events with the Vancouver Winter Olympics up north and the Rio Carnival down south as well as the Chicago Auto Show and the New York Fashion Week. In Europe, the 60th Berlin film festival opens while Chinese communities throughout the world prepare for New Year celebrations, among other events.

Macworld Expo
February 9 - 13
San Francisco, California, USA

Founded in 1985, the Macworld Conference and Expo is the largest annual Apple Macintosh event in the world. Well over 28,000 people have already pre-registered for MacWorld 2010. Hundreds of companies offering dedicated Mac products and services will be at the event to share their expert advice and show off their latest technology. There will be a strong focus on free training sessions and paid education tracks in 2010, in part to draw focus away from the fact that it will also be the first year in which Apple will not attend Macworld Expo.

http://www.macworldexpo.com/

Chicago Auto Show
February 10 - 21
Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Chicago Auto Show spans 1.2 million square feet (more than 100 000 square meters) of space and displays over 1000 vehicles. With more space than is available at other events, manufacturers stage large exhibits here, such as test tracks and even rock concerts. This year will be the 102nd edition, making it the oldest show in the world.

http://www.chicagoautoshow.com

New York Fashion Week
February 11-18
New York, USA

The event kicks off the women's ready-to-wear season in the four fashion capitals (the other three being London, Milan, and Paris), the most important time in the fashion half-year. Designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Alexander Wang, and Calvin Klein will showcase their collections, Jeremy Scott returns from London, and Peter Jensen will make his New York debut.

http://www.mbfashionweek.com/newyork

60th Berlin International Film Festival
February 11-21
Berlin, Germany

The Berlinale, one of the most important dates on the international film industry's calendar with Cannes and Venice is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2010. The 60th edition will present a retrospective to showcase the festival's diversity with 40 films that marked the festival such as Breathless (1959/60) by Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952) or more recently Magnolia (1999) by Paul Thomas Anderson.

http://www.berlinale.de

Winter Olympic Games (and Paralympic Games)
February 12 - March 21
Vancouver, Canada

Athletes from around the globe will vie for glory and honor in 86 winter sporting disciplines from February 12-28 in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic games. Tickets for events start at $25 for less-watched events such as skeleton or the biathalon events, but the prices can rise to as high as $775 for the Gold Medal match in Men's Hockey. The opening and closing ceremonies have some of the most expensive tickets on average, ranging from $175-$1,100 for the opening ceremonies. The Paralympic Games will take place following the Olympics in many of the same venues from March 12-21.

http://www.vancouver2010.com

Rio Carnival
February 12- 16
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The best-known Carnival throughout the world, the Rio version offers hundreds of events throughout the month of February, with special activities occurring between February 12 and 16. The samba school contest/parades in Sambodrome is a must-see.

www.rio.rj.gov.br/riotur/en

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.