The big date marked on many calendars in February with a red pen and, perhaps a heart symbol, is Valentine’s Day. It’s a time for love, romance and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates – maybe even a teddy bear.

But here at What’s On we’ve recognised that February is also a month packed to the rafters with jazz, tennis, rock stars, and breakfast. Yes, breakfast.

To put together our cover story, What’s On set our alarms for early o’clock and stumbled bleary-eyed into cafes and restaurants to try a variety of eggs, muffins, pancakes and shakshouka, all washed down with some seriously strong coffee. Check out the city’s best breakfasts, find out how to make perfect scrambled eggs and hear from Dubai’s hippest barista.

Talking of strong coffee, maybe that’s what has keeping the Rolling Stones going after more than 50 years at the sharp end of the music business. We’ve looked back over the careers of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to unearth some wonderful pieces of wisdom from two of rock’s greatest legends ahead of their first UAE gig.

In terms of rock legend status, Eric Clapton, is right up there too and it’s fair to say the guitarist has done some hard living. We’ve charted his ups and downs as he prepares to bring his incredible catalogue of hits to Dubai.

We also have a full preview of the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival, featuring Santana, The Wanted, Jamie Cullum, Olly Murs and Colbie Caillat, plus a host of talented jazz names.

There’s more music in February with a new festival, RedFest, at the Media City amphitheatre, featuring Tinie Tempah, Ke$ha and The Lumineers. Over at the World Trade Centre, Sarah Brightman arrives in Dubai this month with her Dreamchaser world tour.

Away from music, What’s On has had a very entertaining month exploring the realms of health and fitness. We got chilly (and very excited) while whizzing down the new zip line at Ski Dubai. We got exhausted while doing a punishing ballet-inspired fitness class called Physique 57. We got pole burn while trying a pole fitness class and we felt like kids splashing around at bath time while trying Dubai’s new fitness craze: aquabiking.

Also ranking pretty highly in the entertainment stakes was eating an eight-course brunch while wearing a compression shirt from Spanx, the bulge-battling range of clothing that has now launched a line for men. See who came out on top in our new issue.

Two people who don’t need help with a wobbly physique are tennis pros, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic. We spoke to them ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to hear what it’s like to be a top tennis player on the road.

And returning to Valentine’s Day, we’ve got dozens of ideas for staycations, dinners and unforgettable experiences that will make February 14 a special day, with or without a teddy bear.