History Main / SchoolFestival

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* In ''VisualNovel/KindredSpiritsOnTheRoof'', the main event for the month of September is the school festival. It's relatively humble compared to other high schools, but it has a few significant events. Youka performs a concert in it, [[spoiler:resulting in a public LoveConfession to and ConcertKiss with her love interest Aki.]] Matsuri and Miyu, who are feuding at the moment, decide to settle their dispute by taking their mutual friend and [[SempaiKohai kohai Hina]]([[TheProtagonist Yuna]]'s ChildhoodFriend) out to the festival and seeing who can give her a better time. That event [[WhamEpisode shakes up the plot]] when Hina [[spoiler:rejects both Matsuri and Miyu and confesses to ''Yuna'' instead]].

* ''Manga/AwkwardSilence'' has an arc where one of the protagonists ends up on the culture festival committe because he was AsleepInClass and too shy to say no. Organizing it completely exhausts him. His boyfriend's class runs a MaidCafe (the other old favourite, the HauntedHouse, was suggested but rejected on the grounds that they did it last year).

* ''Manga/IrisZero'' chapters eight and nine: They have not one, but two, battling kissaten, MaidCafe vs. classical Japanese dress cafe.

** The [=SOS=] Brigade [[AmateurFilmMakingPlot makes an amateur film]] for the cultural festival; in the anime adaptation the [[NonIndicativeFirstEpisode first episode]] shows the movie in full, and it's [[StylisticSuck not very good]]. Yuki's class does fortune-telling (with Yuki being amusingly exact), and Mikuru's class does a yakisoba cafe, while Kyon and Haruhi's class "copped out and did a survey" and Itsuki's class performed a play (''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'').

* A the first arc of ''Literature/{{Hyouka}}'' revolves around unravelling the mystery of just went on at one nearly forty years ago while the preparations for one class's film project form the basis of the second arc while the third arc features the festival itself. Kamiyama High's is a little unusual in that it takes place of three (formerly five) days rather than the usual one.

* In ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', the main characters' class holds a small shop selling stuffed animals for the cultural festival during their first year, and a cafe during their second year (the third year is skipped over). For both cases, the same students make the same suggestions at first, one suggesting "a haunted house", another "a cafe", with [[CheerfulChild Chiyo]] noticing this. It also subverts the normal ''obakeyashki''/''kissaten'' pattern, where in the second year [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Osaka]] suggests an ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs obakeyashki kissaten]]'', or "haunted cafe"; when that doesn't fly, she suggests a "[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot haunted cute animal cafe]]" - "[[NightmareFuelStationAttendant It's full of adorable dogs and cats... and they're all dead.]]" They end up taking the cute stuffed animal theme they did the previous year and combining that with a cafe.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' had a cafe for one festival, and a small shop selling stuffed animals for a different school festival. Each year, the same students made the same suggestions at first, one suggesting "A haunted house", another "A cafe", with [[CheerfulChild Chiyo]] noticing this. It also subverted the normal ''obakeyashki''/''kissaten'' pattern, where one year [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Osaka]] suggested an ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs obakeyashki kissaten]]'', or "haunted cafe"; when that didn't fly, she suggested a "[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot haunted cute animal cafe]]" - "[[NightmareFuelStationAttendant It's full of adorable dogs and cats... and they're all dead.]]" They ended up taking the cute stuffed animal theme of the first and combining ''it'' with a cafe.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/KOn https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k_on_first_school_festival.jpg]]]]

* ''LightNovel/HensukiAreYouWillingToFallInLoveWithAPervertAsLongAsShesACutie'': In Volume 7, the Calligraphy Club has to earn enough profit from the culture festival in order to make up for misuing the club budget and avoid being disbanded. Starting a successful Maid Cafe in the festival turns out to be harder than the club thought, though Sayuki successfully uses a different festival activity to advertise the club's cafe and boost their customers.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'''s anime adaptation has its final episode focus on the lead-up to the school's cultural festival (which the English dub refers to as the "arts festival"). Aside from their own classes' projects, all the main characters put together a cheerleading routine for the festival's opening ceremony, which is an expanded verstion of the dance that's [[DancingTheme shown in the anime's opening theme]]. Konata gets her class to do fortune-telling and dresses up in Yuki Nagato's witch outfit from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kagami's class does the typical haunted house, and Yutaka's class does a Creator/TakarazukaRevue-themed cafe, which gives [[YuriFan Hiyori]] an excuse to dress Minami and Yutaka up as a prince and a princess, respectively.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'''s anime adaptation has its final episode focus on the lead-up to the school's the cultural festival (which the English dub refers to as the "arts festival"). Aside from their own classes' projects, all the main characters put together a cheerleading routine for the festival's opening ceremony, which is an expanded verstion of the dance that's [[DancingTheme shown in the anime's opening theme]]. Konata gets her class to do fortune-telling and dresses up in Yuki Nagato's witch outfit from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kagami's class does the typical haunted house, and Yutaka's class does a Creator/TakarazukaRevue-themed cafe, which gives [[YuriFan Hiyori]] an excuse to dress Minami and Yutaka up as a prince and a princess, respectively.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'''s anime adaptation has its final episode end at the cultural festival. Aside from their own classes' things, all the main characters put together a cheerleading routine for the festival's opening ceremony, which is the exact same one that's [[DancingTheme shown in the anime's opening theme]]. Konata gets her class to do fortune-telling and dresses up in Yuki Nagato's witch outfit from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kagami's class does the typical haunted house, and Yutaka's class does a Creator/TakarazukaRevue-themed cafe, which gives [[YuriFan Hiyori]] an excuse to dress Minami and Yutaka up as a prince and a princess, respectively.

* In ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'', Umesato holds its school festival in Volume 13, thus creating a situation in which the protagonists could potentially encounter and be challenged by members of other Legions, who would be outside of their territory. Unlike some school festivals, this is held in June, rather than October.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** This gets a twist due to the [[PsychicPowers espers]]. Powers ''are'' allowed in competitions, which means the lesser schools are inevitably completely shown up by the better ones, even with a handicap. Though Touma's class of Level Zeroes does surprisingly well, and not because of his AntiMagic hand. It's because [[BerserkButton someone made their teacher cry]].
** The ''[[Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun Railgun]]'' side of the arc involves a plot to kidnap Mikoto Misaka that accidentally grabs one of her clones instead, a mind-controller [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erasing all memories of Mikoto from her closest friends]], the swim team girls being badass, two Level 5 espers teaming up against a Kihara, plus a few flashbacks to [[spoiler:said mind-controller's heartwarming interactions with Mikoto's very first clone]]. Oh, and the overly-confident Tokiwadai girls get curb-stomped by a school of low-level espers who were very cautious and well-prepared.
** Separate from the sports festival, there is also a city-wide festival where schools compete to attract new students, and Tokiwadai puts on a rather more organized than typical one to show off the non-esper portion of their curriculum.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** The [[NonIndicativeFirstEpisode first episode]] shows the video the [=SOS-Dan=] created for the School Festival, which is shown in episode 12. Yuki's class does fortune-telling (with Yuki being amusingly exact), and Mikuru's class did a yakisoba cafe, while Kyon and Haruhi's class "copped out and did a survey" and Itsuki's class performed a play (''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'').
** The second season arc (especially ''The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya'') shows the leadup to the festival, as well as more detail for the sports part. The SOS Brigade wins every single event--most of those victories [[TheAce secured by Haruhi herself]]. Well, except for the relay race, where [[SuperSpeed Yuki forgot to limit herself to human speeds]]. It's only much later that everyone remembers that the SOS Brigade technically isn't a club, so they shouldn't have been allowed to compete.

* ''LightNovel/HensukiAreYouWillingToFallInLoveWithAPervertAsLongAsShesACutie'': In Volume 7, the Calligraphy Club has to earn enough profit from the culture festival in order to make up for misuing the club budget and avoid being disbanded. Starting a successful Maid Cafe in the festival turns out to be harder than the club thought, though Sayuki successfully uses a different festival activity to advertise the club's cafe and boost their customers.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'''s anime adaptation has its final episode end at the cultural festival. Aside from their own classes' things, all the main characters put together a cheerleading routine for the festival's opening ceremony, which is the exact same one that's [[DancingTheme shown in the anime's opening theme]]. Konata gets her class to do fortune-telling and dresses up in Yuki Nagato's witch outfit from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kagami's class does the typical haunted house, and Yutaka's class does a Creator/TakarazukaRevue-themed cafe, which gives [[YuriFan Hiyori]] an excuse to dress Minami and Yutaka up as a prince and a princess, respectively.

* ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'':
** The ''[[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Yamayurikai]]'' at [[ElaborateUniversityHigh Lillian Jogakuen]] puts on a performance of ''Cinderella'' at their School Festival, which becomes a major plot point.
** Festival time rolls around again in Season 4. This time they do ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torikaebaya_Monogatari Torikaebaya Monogatari]]'', mostly at Sachiko's insistence so she doesn't have to play the lead. Touko having the split her time between the Yamayurikai's play and the Drama Club's production of ''Literature/LittleWomen'' is also a source of drama in the lead up. Yumi and Yoshino's class are quite laid back in comparison, simply doing a food stall.

* ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' has a three episode arc. Ryuji's class puts on a Wrestling Show, with Taiga as the BigBad and Ryuji as [[TheDragon her]] [[StealthPun dragon]].

* Something very similar is the "School Treat" featured in British works, particularly in works written or set before 1960. A School Treat is essentially a carnival for the benefit of the local school (or sometimes a church) often bankrolled by the local nobleman. One of the principal differences is that the school kids generally don't assist in constructing or running it. See the works of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse in particular (School Treats are a frequent feature of Wodehose works).

* Chapter 20 of ''Manga/KitsuneNoYomeiri'' focuses on the Cultural Festival of the main character's school, focusing one [[UnluckyEverydude Ousuke]], [[{{Kitsune}} Kyouka]] and [[{{Tanuki}} Kanon]] being roped into running their classes maid café by themselves.

* The FightingGame ''Asuka 120% Burning Fest.'' is set around a school festival at a girls' private school, where each club sends a representative to compete in a martial arts tournament to determine budget allocations.

* ''Franchise/PrettyCure'': ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' had a good portion of its story dealing with this and is basically the culmination of the whole Fashion Club storyline as Erika's dream is realized.

* Chapter 58 of ''Manga/TheErrandBoyAndTheDelinquentLeaderInLove'' sees Unoki and Toramaru on a date at their school's culture festival. At the end of the day one of the third year classes are set to host a LoveConfession competition; the perfect place for Unoki and Ushigome to finally admit their feelings to their respective crushes. [[spoiler: [[RedHerring Unfortunately, they never get the chance]]. A delinquent from a rival school uses the festivities as cover to [[DudeInDistress kidnap Unoki]] and blackmail Toramaru, and by the time she's dealt with the festival is long over.]]

** Chapter 40 takes place in Ryousuke's and Tamura's all-boys high school festival. Shuu is seen crossdressing as a maid again for a crossplay cafe. For a contest Satoshi dresses as a bunny girl while Ryousuke dresses as a schoolgirl. Akane and Marika get dressed up too despite being girls. Marika joins the contest because she's a {{trans|gender}} girl and actually wins it. She still has some insecurities about living as a girl.

* A major story arc in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' involved Tsukune preparing for the school festival, but the festival itself was only a minor arc to wrap up the season.

** The UA Cultural Festival is a BreatherEpisode, coming after [[CerebusSyndrome the Overhaul Arc]] and allowing the students to blow off steam. That doesn't mean there aren't any fights, but the arc as a whole is pretty lighthearted.

** Volumes 5 and 17 both focus on cultural festivals, with Komi's class running a MaidCafe in their first year, and performing a pair of [[SchoolPlay plays]] in their second. The second year's festival also marks the point where [[spoiler: Komi and Manbagi both realise the other also has feelings for Tadano, as Komi ends one of the plays with a genuine LoveConfession.]] Meanwhile, Tadano ends up getting DraggedIntoDrag two years in a row.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', during the Talent Development plan minigame, a board game in which you play as one of the characters from the three games throughout their time at Hope's Peak, your character will take part in the sports and culture festivals. Both are scripted events in which you make one of three choices, each of which shows a different event and gives you a different kind of Talent Fragment (which you use to buy and upgrade skills).* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Monika decides to hold a poetry showcase during the cultural festival, and you can either help Yuri or Natsuki prepare for it. Unfortunately, we never get to see the festival proper, because [[spoiler:Sayori hangs herself on the morning of the festival, causing the game to glitch and reset]].

* The remake of ''VideoGame/Disgaea3'' on the Playstation Vita has Evil Academy's Culture Festival as one of the new side-stories, giving the spotlight to Master Big Star and Salvatore. However, an eagle-eyed viewer can catch an [[EarlyBirdCameo quick glimpse]] of one of the two new characters who are central to the final side-story.