What the festivities stand for.
Carnival in Malta is quite the ordeal. With both Valletta, Malta and Nadur, Gozo, hyped up for the celebrations, there’s so much going on in our tiny country. It all started in 1535, where Grand Master De Ponte introduced carnival celebrations to the islands. Initially, the carnival was the big bash before Lent, which was viewed as an intense sacrifice!
The term carnival originates from the Italian carne vale - a phrase that translates to ‘meat is allowed’, but carnival meant way more than a couple of lamb shanks; it also translated into tournaments and pageants which allowed the Hospitallers to parade around and prove their skills in gallantry.
In today’s carnival traditions, pageantry is a loose term we use for the Valletta festivities and it is even used to refer to the Nadur celebrations. The Valletta street party is one for all the family, since it’s all about colour, floats and a full-on dance and music celebration, while the Nadur event is more macabre, which appeals to young adults and those with a wilder side.
The extremity of the festivals are not only a 21st century craze. Indeed, Grand Master Piero de Ponte as well as Grand Master Jean Parisot de La Valette felt as though the tournaments got a little bit out of hand, so times and limitations were set, affecting the event drastically.
For example, in 1639, Grand Master Juan de Lascaris-Castellar prohibited the use of masks and costumes which represented the devil. This rule was set for women only, for some reason, unexplained.
The birth of the float
Quit the depravity, quit the shenanigans and let’s have some fun! The year is 1730 and a parade led by the Grand Master’s carriage comes to life, with horses trotting to the beat of a drum. These are the first ever floats, decorated by the public themselves, and they followed the regal carriage, bringing some light and laughter to the island before a period of abstinence.
The Knights of St John were religious figures on the island. They followed the ways of Christianity and therefore did not permit certain practices from Ash Wednesday up until Easter Sunday. Lent was a precious moment of self-control, humility and sacrifice, and, for some, it still holds the same function today.