I didn’t know them but I felt I did, these German and other European tourists speaking to the international press about their excitement during this week’s Trinidad Carnival. Some spoke about having participated in the carnival several times already. I only attended once, in 2004, a heady experience that was also thought provoking.

... (the) revelation... that political satire of national politics has never... been illegal... opens new possibilities- John Attard Montalto

Trinidadians do not shrink from superlatives when describing their carnival. They call it “the greatest show on earth”. And they treat it like one. They are reputed to prepare for it all year round. The exhibitions of the costumes, in the running for a grand prize, begin in the summer, using all the social media.

The greatest show on earth... “Where else,” exclaimed one participant, “can you jump in the street for two straight days?”

The answer, of course, is known to readers of this newspaper: “Malta, after a general election”.

There, however, lies the rub. In Malta, we know how to throw a good party with infectious enthusiasm. So far, however, we have not really found a way of throwing a good party that potentially unites the entire nation.

Hence, the thought provoked by the Trinidad Carnival: Can Malta have such an event? If we can, would it be desirable?

The Trinidad event has to be seen and experienced. Words are not sufficient. It is noisy, vibrant and full of the energy of strapping young women boasting rude health and modestly-sized attire.

Steel and pan bands are an integral part of the celebrations. Each band competes to have its king and queen crowned winners of the festival. Victory is seriously coveted. Not to mention parallel competitions in calypso and limbo, which have their origins in the island.

The origins of the carnival lie in the island’s colonial past. The flamboyant costumes aimed to copy and exaggerate the ball gowns of the European rulers. To these were added elements that reflected what this Caribbean island had kept of the myths and symbols of Africa.

The carnival is not without its problems, at least on occasion. Trinidad is larger than Tobago, indeed 20 times larger than Malta, and it has an urban society with all its ramifications. Its main economic activity is oil and its by-products. It is not particularly safe. In fact, on an earlier occasion I had to abort a planned visit to the islands when anti-European, and predominantly anti-British, demonstrations were taking place.

Such a background, however, highlights the striking aspects of the carnival.

It is not a large carnival. Rio’s carnival is obviously larger but so is the Notting Hill Carnival in the UK, both in terms of numbers and in terms of the space covered. The numbers attracted yearly to Trinidad are still substantial, however, at least in Maltese terms.

It is calculated that about 200,000 tourists visit per year, some of them repeat visitors. The carnival caters for them, too, giving them a place in the displays and celebrations. The tourists are participants, not just spectators.

They relish going to Trinidad, even though it is, to my mind, rather less attractive than Tobago. The latter’s capital, Scarborough, is more laid back than Trinidad’s Port of Spain and it has a greater Caribbean fascination.

I will not try to solve the mystery of why tourists originally opted for Trinidad. The point is that today the carnival is established. A less than attractive island, to put it gently, manages to attract worldwide coverage for its carnival each year despite serious competition from elsewhere.

Can we organise such a carnival in Malta? Would we be able to release the spontaneity and the fun? If we did, it would certainly boost tourism during a period of the calendar year when we need it most.

Is it desirable to aim in that direction? Carnivals are raucous affairs. Attracting even half Trinidad’s numbers for a carnival in Malta would leave the town or village visited looking as though it had been visited by a plague of locusts. That does not mean, however, that we cannot find a place that can be dedicated to such an event.

My own instincts are divided. On the one hand, a good carnival needs to be transgressive. And, so to speak, transgression must be led from the front. By the carnival floats, the dancers, the party animators.

Minister Mario De Marco’s revelation, this week, that political satire of national politics has never in fact been illegal (we just thought it was on the basis of a 1930s measure) opens new possibilities. Not just for local consumption but also for tourism. I think it could be worthwhile and promising.

However, I also think that we must tread carefully and move gradually. Launching a new style carnival in a year leading up to an election may end up producing incidents too hot to handle. Even Trinidad has them. But, at least, it has a long-standing reputation that can absorb them.

Dr Attard Montalto is a Labour member of the European Parliament.