Nestled between the ancient Knights’ bastions is a row of British-era military stores. It’s easy to miss them, especially if you’re paying special attention to the road as you’re driving down by Portes des Bombes.

However, there’s absolutely nothing military about these stores today, as they house a number of Carnival float builders, who work all year round to build the enormous colourful allegories which turn the Valletta streets into a riot of colour in the five days preceding Lent.

Pawlu Mizzi, 61, or Kurun to his friends, is the last remaining veteran Carnival float builder, who is still active on the scene. In fact, with just a few days remaining for Carnival, he is busy applying the finishing touches to his float, which this year is inspired by the wonders of nature.

For Pawlu, these are the most beautiful days of the year, as they bring about the culmination of year-long labour of love, which encompasses plenty of imagination, planning, and hard work.

“Carnival is everything for me, it defines who I am,” says Pawlu as he retouches some papier-mâché flowers, that will adorn the side of the float. “Growing up in lower Valletta, I took an interest in the wonderful world of Carnival from a very young age. I would beg the stalwart float makers such as Carnival legend Pawlu Curmi l-Pampalun, to get involved and help in the proceedings. From the humble duty of stirring the glue mix made from flour and water on the burner as a teenager, I soon was helping out on all fronts – even taking part in the défilé.”

By 1990, Pawlu had set up his own Carnival company, and started competing on the national stage with his own creations.

The cavernous store where Pawlu works from, is an explosion of creativity. Parts of old floats hang from the ceiling, hailing old triumphs, while the floor is packed with parts of this year’s design which is now at advanced assembly stage.

“It has been an unbelievable ride! When I look back on how times have changed over a few decades, I can barely recognise where we started from, but like anything that is alive and dynamic, Carnival developed and changed to reflect the times it lives in,” Pawlu reflects.

“When I started off, we used chicken-wire and thin strips of wood which we would bend over a dangerously large flame, to shape our builds.” Today they use a true 21st century miracle material made of aluminium and plastic, which is easily malleable and very sturdy. But it’s not all plain sailing either, as modernisation still offers new challenges for the age-old craft and tradition. With newspapers virtually vanishing from circulation, float builders are increasingly finding it hard to acquire the gargantuan volumes of paper required to make their colourful characters.

“Up till very recently, we used to be begged to collect pallets full of old newspapers, magazines, and other scrap paper. Today, media consumption has changed completely, which means that fewer people are buying newspapers, making them rarer and rarer. With every year that passes, we need to be more creative with finding this raw material, and I envisage it becoming a serious problem soon,” Pawlu remarks half-jokingly.

The appearance of floats has also change completely, as they have become bigger, brighter, more complex, and more daring in their engineering feats.

“Whereas we used to operate all the movements a character would make with its head and hands or legs manually, today all these actions are likely managed by a centralised electronic system. The same goes for the sound system, complex lighting set-ups and anything else that composes the float.”

Asked which of his creations was his favourite, Pawlu has a hard time to pin-point just one, as they all mean something special to him. “Inspiration comes from the weirdest moments. Sometimes it’s an advert on TV, or something just as random which sets the cogs in motion. Then it’s a matter of turning the idea into a physical work of art. Probably my most memorable float featured a huge dragon with a brave firefighter putting out the flames… that was quite the challenge to pull off,” Pawlu reminisces.

“Being able to create something from humble materials such as paper and glue is an amazing experience. Though a great deal of the process has developed and advanced, the core is still the same as it was hundreds of years ago, when Carnival started. I augur that this age-old tradition is supported and protected, to be enjoyed by many more thousands, for many years to come,” says Pawlu with a smile.

Carnival in Malta and Gozo is celebrated between 9th and 13th February.

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