The popularity of the Nadur Carnival seems to have risen to unrivalled proportions as could be seen from early this afternoon when the queues for the ferry to Gozo dragged on to Ghadira.

This spontaneous adult carnival, which peaks tomorrow, received some bad press last year following the arrest of a number of people who dressed up as Jesus Christ and as nuns.

Amid condemnation from the bishops, the revellers ended up in court for choosing costumes deemed to be illegal and offensive to the Roman Catholic religion.

One young man was given a one-month suspended jail term for dressing up as Jesus. This was deemed as excessive censorship by some who argued it threatened the spontaneous character of the Nadur carnival.

In reaction, a group was set up on Facebook with a page entitled Friends of Jesus: Nadur 2010, which said it was organising a "peaceful protest against a modern-day inquisition".

The group said it hoped to encourage hundreds of people to dress up as Jesus in an attempt to overwhelm any fear of retribution "by numbers".

A few days ago, the police rock bands performing in Nadur to submit their planned repertoire for vetting.

But they later said they had "reconsidered the decision".

Carnival celebrations started in Valletta today with an assembly of dance companies along Merchant Street followed by a street parade show composed of the King Carnival float, masks and bands along Merchant Street, St John Street and Republic Street.