Renewed interest in Carnival

For the first time in many years, this year's Carnival will be seeing full participation in all the competition sections, except the bands contest, the National Commission for Folklore announced yesterday.

A total of 37 bands, floats and companies in costume are taking part in this year's Carnival, which will run from February 24 to 28.

The fact, for example, that there were four children's companies participating this year showed that Carnival in Malta had a promising future, commission chairman Alfred Chetcuti said.

However, although Carnival is a time for merrymaking and revelry, the situation behind the colourful scenes does not seem to be as rosy.

Without wanting to paint a picture of doom and gloom around this positive event, Mr Chetcuti pointed out that the National Commission for Folklore, which worked non-stop from Carnival to Carnival, was faced with many major problems while organising the traditional festival.

The financial problems were the most serious and needed to be addressed if Carnival was to continue to be celebrated as it deserved, he said.

The lack of human resources was another issue the commission had to deal with, one which was preventing it from working in the most efficient of ways.

But it was not only the commission which was facing problems, Mr Chertcuti continued. Even the participants had to overcome several obstacles, the largest stumbling block being the lack of adequate workshops in which to build their floats.

Although a solution was not yet in sight, intensive efforts, with the involvement of Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, were being made to find a solution to a problem that cropped up year after year.

"Personally, I think enough time has now passed to find a lasting solution," Mr Chetcuti said.

Moreover, the construction material for the elaborate floats and costumes was a "huge expense" for the participants, who got by only thanks to the support of their many family members and volunteers, Mr Chetcuti said, stressing that their sacrifices should be appreciated.

The commission has also attempted to put a stop, once and for all, to the idea that Carnival is held only for people in the enclosure of Valletta's Freedom Square.

"Contrary to our wishes, we have not yet managed to find the way to create a carnival atmosphere and the merrymaking required during the défilés in the streets of Valletta.

"We need to continue thinking and discussing with the participants ways to create, in the most practical of ways, the jovial atmosphere that has been, unfortunately, so lacking over the past few years. We believe that if Carnival cannot exist without the floats, neither can it exist without the active and live participation of the public, filling the streets of the capital city," Mr Chetcuti said.

On a more positive note, novelties this year include a new musical score that is closer to the traditional roots of the first Carnival parades.

It was felt that, this year, there was a need to breathe new life into the music that accompanies the traditional Parata, which had lost its original touch, Mr Chetcuti said.

Together with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the commission invested in a new musical score by Reuben Zahra, composer and music researcher in the field of local traditions and folklore.

Mr Chetcuti and Dr Zammit Dimech expressed their appreciation of the fact that, for the second consecutive year, St Julian's and Qormi councils will be holding relatively large-scale carnival activities in their localities, with the commission's collaboration.

Dr Zammit Dimech said the Carnival also attracted tourism and that tour operators used it as an added bonus. Carnival, which was recognised internationally, was, therefore, being marketed more, he said.

It was the participants who made the event, said Carnival committee co-ordinator George Zahra, highlighting the complex technology and mechanics of the floats' interior, which were as much a "marvel" as the outside.

The participants needed all the encouragement possible as it was they who kept this 500-year-old tradition alive, he said.

Many of the participants were still young and, therefore, had an entire future to invest in the Carnival.

During yesterday's briefing at Piazza Latina in Valletta, Safari presented the Carnival committee with a sponsorship cheque.