The summer carnival will return in full splendour to the main streets of Buġibba and Qawra on August 17 and 18 after an absence of one year.

Held in 2010 and 2011, the colourful event will include a street defilé and converge on the main square in Buġibba with a grand spectacle of floats, masks, dancing, crafts and even the traditional greasy pole competition in the bay.

Asked if this was one of three carnivals he had proposed, Parliamentary Secretary José Herrera yesterday insisted he had never said the Government was considering holding three carnivals. This was a “malicious misinterpretation” by the press of what he had said.

In June, addressing a public consultation meeting, Dr Herrera had been reported in Times of Malta saying that, following meetings with people involved in the sector, he would be making a proposal to Cabinet to have a traditional carnival in winter, a full carnival with floats in May and a mini-carnival in summer.

However, in a press conference at Buġibba yesterday, Dr Herrera said what he had proposed was to reintroduce the summer one and move the national carnival to May.

He had now decided to keep the national carnival celebrations in February and reintroduce the summer carnival in the north following the one-year absence.

The summer carnival had been funded by a private company in 2010 and 2011 and this year the cost will be footed by Dr Herrera’s secretariat and the Malta Tourism Authority.

The event is being organised by the Carnival Committee and supported by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the Malta Tourism Authority, St Paul’s Bay local council and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

The Buġibba seafront will be closed to traffic from the quay near the saltpans to the Dolmen Hotel between 7pm and 11pm on both days.