Heritage Malta is holding a unique carnival event, Il-Qarċilla, on February 17 at 8pm at the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina and on February 16 at 8pm at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa, in collaboration with L-Akkademja tal-Malti.

Il-Qarċilla is a poetic farce in Maltese which, up to 100 years ago, formed part of carnival celebrations in Valletta and was popular in a number of villages.

A man, acting as notary would, in the presence of two youngsters acting as husband-and wife-to-be, read out a marital contract in verse filled with satirical innuendos and humour.

The crowd would gather in the streets of Valletta to listen to the poem, which could require an adult audience. The first qarċilla on record was written for the 1760 carnival festivities by Cospicua poet Dun Feliċ Demarco. Among Demarco’s works, one also finds Iż-Żwieġ la Maltija (Marriage the Maltese way), which is the only one of his works that has survived to this day.

The Vittoriosa event includes a short talk by Olvin Vella about the linguistic value of the ancient qrieċel, a performance, a small exhibition of authentic qrieċel specimens and a reception.

The Mdina one will include a short talk by Bernard Micallef about the literary value of the first qarċilla. This year’s Il-Qarċilla has been written by Trevor Zahra.

Tickets at €15 can be purchased from all Heritage Malta sites and museums or online at http://shop.heritagmalta.org .

www.heritagemalta.org