History Main / ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': After participating in the Inevitable Tournament missions, a section of UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} will be constantly celebrating Carnivale for the rest of the game. Even ''ten years'' after the Venice part of the plot begins.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher's comic book ''Die Hard in the Big Easy'' takes place in a partying New Orleans.He even lampshades it.

* The first stage of ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' has Sly foil the plan of Octavio, an opera singer turned mob boss, to destroy buildings in Venice, Italy, to make people opera fans again on the first day of Carnaval.

* ''Animation/{{Pucca}}'': The episode set in Brazil took place during Carnaval.

** The episode where the Simpsons visit Brazil puts them in the middle of the Carnaval.

* Bugs Bunny is in New Orleans sending Playboy Penguin off on the S.S. Admiral Byrd (under the assumption it's going to Antarctica--it's going to Brooklyn) and says he wants to stay around for "Madri Grass." From the [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon]] "8-Ball Bunny."

** "The Hot Rocks of Rio Caper" takes place in Rio durring Carnival ([[spoiler:V.I.L.E. was explicitly using the parade as part of their cover.]])

* This trope exists in the Netherlands as well, particularly for the southern provinces. People from the northern provinces celebrate "Carnaval" ''maybe'' one day a year. In the South, it can last ''weeks'', leading to a lot of jokes about how Carnaval never ends south of the great rivers. Some people in the southernmost province, Limburg, actually do tend to spend all year preparing for the yearly Carnaval.
** Stand-up comedian Martine Bijl wrote a song about this (''"Limburgs Klaaglied"'': "Limburger Lament"). It's about a girl whose mother is from the northernmost province (Fryslân), while they both live in Limburg with her Limburger father, trying to understand why people are so excited about carnaval.

** The opening sequence of ''{{Film/Spectre}}'' has Bond strolling through a parade in Mexico City, clad in a costume that indicates that it's Dia de los Muertos. Of note, Mexico City had no tradition of a Dia de los Muertos parade, but staging one for the film was ''very'' popular and [[TheRedStapler now they do host such an event each year]].

-->'''Wiggum:''' There any parties going on today?
-->'''Skinner:''' It's not really a party town, chief. Though if I remember correctly, the locals do occasionally hold a function called...smarty...something.

This goes for any city or country with a famous festival; for instance, a large number of episodes set in Mexico take place during ''Di­a de los Muertos'' or ''Cinco de Mayo''[[note]] although ''Cinco de Mayo'' is a minor holiday in Mexico itself and is not even celebrated in some regions [[/note]], a large number of episodes set in [[TorosYFlamenco Spain]] take place in Pamplona during the ''Fiesta de San Fermin'' (of "the running of the bulls" fame, complete with seemingly obligatory ThunderingHerd of ''toros''), and any episode set in UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}} (thus UsefulNotes/RioDeJaneiro) or UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} wanders into Carneval. And while the trope isn't really applicable to [[BigApplesauce New York City]], there are still a disproportionate number of stories set in the city during the Feast of San Gennaro, or during the [[UsefulNotes/MacysThanksgivingDayParade Macy's Parade]], or in Times Square on New Year's Eve. San Francisco seemingly hosts an excessive number of Pride Marches; one might think that the entire LGBT community is unemployed, or that they have somehow managed to make parade-marching into a source of income. It's also usually Chinese New Year whenever a show's characters end up in Chinatown (with the characters hiding from danger under a lion train), and cities with large Irish communities -- Boston and Chicago, for example -- play host to frequent St. Patrick's Day Parades. However, it's never Bon when characters visit Japan, nor is it the 4th of July when characters visit America...

This goes for any city or country with a famous festival; for instance, a large number of episodes set in Mexico take place during ''Di­a de los Muertos'' or ''Cinco de Mayo''[[note]] although ''Cinco de Mayo'' is a minor holiday in Mexico itself and is not even celebrated in some regions [[/note]], a large number of episodes set in [[TorosYFlamenco Spain]] take place in Pamplona during the ''Fiesta de San Fermin'' (of "the running of the bulls" fame, complete with seemingly obligatory ThunderingHerd of ''toros''), and any episode set in Brazil or Venice wanders into Carneval. And while the trope isn't really applicable to [[BigApplesauce New York City]], there are still a disproportionate number of stories set in the city during the Feast of San Gennaro, or during the [[UsefulNotes/MacysThanksgivingDayParade Macy's Parade]], or in Times Square on New Year's Eve. San Francisco seemingly hosts an excessive number of Pride Marches; one might think that the entire LGBT community is unemployed, or that they have somehow managed to make parade-marching into a source of income. It's also usually Chinese New Year whenever a show's characters end up in Chinatown (with the characters hiding from danger under a lion train), and cities with large Irish communities -- Boston and Chicago, for example -- play host to frequent St. Patrick's Day Parades. However, it's never Bon when characters visit Japan, nor is it the 4th of July when characters visit America...

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', which is set in New Orleans, primarily takes place during the last three days of Mardi Gras. Justified, for a few reasons. The event is actually vital to the plot, as Lottie is only a princess during Mardi Gras, and more importantly, no one would forgive Disney if they made an animated musical set in The Big Easy and DIDN'T include a Mardi Gras sequence. The trope is also partially subverted; through most of the plot, nobody even mentions a holiday.

* UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}} gets this bad. The only time the city is ever mentioned is during the Indy 500 race. The Indianapolis Colts get a fair amount of coverage, especially the last decade.

Whenever anyone goes to [[TheBigEasy New]] [[UsefulNotes/NewOrleans Orleans]], it's nearly always during [[MasqueradeBall Mardi Gras]]. If it isn't actually Mardi Gras, then the {{denouement}} will occur in a costume/parade storage warehouse. This is probably due to the writers having no sense of geography.

** His post-Katrina New Orleans episode is a complete aversion. Tony came there not at the time of Mardi Gras, focused only on how people struggle to stay [[TooSoon afloat]], and showcased the destruction the hurricane brought. Tony, in a [[DeadpanSnarker very uncharacteristic tone]], showed how much of a big deal deal ComfortFood is during the time of tragedy.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "When Mice Were Men", the Rangers travel to [[TorosYFlamenco Spain]]; to a place named "Tramplonia", to be more precise. The Running of the Bulls is not only inevitable in this setting, but even a key element in the plot.

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', which is set in New Orleans, primarily takes place during the last three days of Mardi Gras. Justified, for a few reasons. The event is actually vital to the plot, as Lottie is only a princess during Mardi Gras, and more importantly, no one would forgive Disney if they made an animated musical set in The Big Easy and DIDN'T include a Mardi Gras sequence. The trope is also partially subverted; through most of the plot, nobody even mentions a holiday.

* In [[Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros Tintin and the Picaros]], Tintin arrives in San Theodoros during Carnival season.
* Ragman: Cry of the Dead takes place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

* It even works for {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s: in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'', Granny, Nanny and Magrat have a stopover in a vaguely Spanish small town, and end up caught in the middle of a "running of the bulls" knock-off known only as The Thing with the Bulls. When they get to Genua, it's in time for the local equivalent of Mardi Gras, also known as Samedi Nuit Mort ("[[Series/SaturdayNightLive Saturday Night Dead]]" [[BilingualBonus in French]]).
** Similarly, in ''Discworld/TheLastContinent'', set in a FantasyCounterpartCulture of the LandDownUnder, it's not only the day of the Galah (counterpart to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Mardi_Gras Sydney Mardi Gras]]) but also of the equivalent of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Todd_Regatta Henley-on-Todd Regatta]].

* ThePunisher's comic book ''Die Hard in the Big Easy'' takes place in a partying New Orleans.He even lampshades it.

* In Brazil, is frequently joked that in the state of Bahia, Carnival lasts all year long.

** The opening sequence of ''{{Film/Spectre}}'' has Bond strolling through a parade in Mexico City, clad in a costume that indicates that it's Dia de los Muertos.
*** Mexico City had no tradition of a Dia de los Muertos parade, but staging one for the film was popular and [[TheRedStapler now they do host such an event each year]].

** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' has a Junkanoo ("Our local Mardi Gras") scene in the Bahamas. They generally have Junkanoo on Boxing Day (Dec 26th), and New Year's, (barring delays) but currently have smaller performances yearly for tourists.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masks The Masks]]" takes place during Mardi Gras, though it occurs indoors so we don't see the actual festival.

** However, there's an early scene with a newspaper, dated April on the front and July on the back, with an article headline about Mardi Gras which was in February in 1926. It literally may actually always be Mardi Gras in this version of New Orleans.

* Subverted in ''Danse de la Mort: Mary's Child'', a pre-made story for ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem''. The main characters either live in New Orleans or are tourists come to experience Mardi Gras, and the story takes place just as Mardi Gras is ''ending''. Just to hammer the point home, the characters are at one point persuaded to anoint their foreheads with ash ([[CaptainObvious signifying Ash Wednesday]]).