While you will see a local version of the festivities in any Italian city and village, some are more famous for their sophisticated spectacles like Venice with elaborate costumes, masks and wigs, and Viareggio in seaside Tuscany with parade floats of current and historical figures. Carnevale is the Italian version of Mardi Gras, and can occur in the weekends of January-March depending on when Easter falls. This is not a national bank holiday.