Carnival organisers hail this year’s edition as a success

A healthy turn-out and a jump in quality among float-makers were among the reasons Carnival 2016 could be considered a success, according to Carnival Artistic Director Jason Busuttil.

“Carnival was a success this year. Valletta was so full of people during the past weekend that you could barely move. And this year the jury members are going to find it hard to choose the winner from the participants because everyone presented work of high quality: floats, costumes and dance choreographies. It’s going to be a tough competition,” Busuttil said.

He added that even the newly-introduced events proved to be a success.

“Carnival in Hamrun was also a success. We didn’t expect so many people. St Joseph’s High Street was full and this encourages us to extend Carnival to further localities, not limit it only to Valletta,” explained the Artistic Director.

He added the workshops beneath Pjazza Teatru Rjal were always busy with children working with paper-machè and the candy float was a great attraction. It is a miniature float with all the mechanisms the normal floats have but built from sweets, not paper-machè. Busuttil wishes more confectioners participate in next year’s exhibition.

Il-Qarcilla too is increasing in popularity as this year it was performed twice during Carnival, whilst in the past years it was performed only once.

A new activity which still has to happen is the national competition for the best Carnival costume, which hasn’t happened in a while. This is being organised today at noon by Arts Council Malta in Piazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta. The competition is aimed at children and youths (5-16 years old) and will be divided in two categories according to age groups.