PRESS RELEASE

Aquarium ready to welcome guests during February school vacation week with special programming, outdoor games, and winter treats

Aquarium open for extended hours February 16 to 20

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A trainer feeding an Atlantic harbor seal
A New England Aquarium trainer feeds Atlantic harbor seal “Trumpet” during an enrichment session. CREDIT: Vanessa Kahn/New England Aquarium

BOSTON, MASS. (February 2026) – The New England Aquarium is getting ready for the upcoming February school vacation week when it will offer special programming, winter treats, and outdoor games in addition to daily animal presentations and films.

The Aquarium is extending its hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from February 16 to 20 when Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine public school students have vacation weeks. Guests will see a refreshed look and feel throughout the Aquarium, following the installation of new exhibit and wayfinding signage. Tickets can be purchased online in advance at neaq.org. New England residents receive $5 off standard Aquarium admission or admission and movie combinations.

Highlights for the week include:

Special themed programming

  • With the winter games underway, guests will have opportunities to learn about aquarium “athletes.” Special programming includes a themed scavenger hunt, roving biofacts highlighting athletic animals, and activities in the Aquarium’s interactive educational space, the Exploration Station.
  • Guests can also enjoy daily presentations with the penguins, sea lions, and harbor seals, along with the residents of the Giant Ocean Tank. Join an educator along the exhibit path for an up-close experience with one of the Aquarium’s animal ambassadors. Full schedule available here.

Winter treats, igloos, and games on the plaza

  • From Feb. 14 through Feb. 22 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Aquarium’s food truck-style outpost, Central Snack Bar, will be selling hot chocolate with toppings including whipped cream, marshmallows, and caramel. The snack bar will also offer hot apple cider, coffee, and a menu of snacks for purchase.
  • Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy their snack bar items inside igloos set up on the Aquarium’s front plaza from Feb. 15 through Feb. 22. There will also be lawn games offering fun for all ages.

New film premiering in Simons Theatre

  • The Aquarium’s Simons Theatre will begin screening Penguins: A Love Story, a new documentary recounting remarkable stories of penguin courtship, connection, and resiliency from South Africa to Australia. The film debuts on the Simons Theatre’s giant screen Friday, Feb. 13.
  • The theater will also be showing the films Shark Kingdom and Call of the Dolphins.
  • Tickets and show times are available at all Aquarium ticketing locations by calling 617-973-5206 or by visiting org.

WINTERACTIVE sculpture

  • The New England Aquarium is part of Boston’s public art experience WINTERACTIVE, hosting an interactive sculpture on its front plaza. “Whale Tales,” a 96-inch-tall art installation of a North Atlantic right whale’s tail, lights up and provides whale vocalizations as visitors wind a crank. WINTERACTIVE runs through March 29, welcoming visitors 24/7 to view public art at 18 locations across the city’s downtown business district.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder—617-686-5068; psnyder@neaq.org