Valetta Carnival
Il-Karnival Ta’ Malta, 2020
What could be better than an unexpected holiday? Our last UK winter escape before the global pandemic lockdown was a surprise on a variety of levels. Firstly, I discovered in January 2020 that I had holiday time left over from the previous year that demanded be taken before the end of February or become a lost opportunity. So we spontaneously booked eight nights at an ex-palazzo hotel in the heart of Malta’s ancient capital Valetta. Great.
The second major surprise was that our stay coincided with Il-Karnival Ta’ Malta, or Carnival in Malta – the largest street festival in the country’s well-stocked calendar of festas and fun – that would run for five days.
The third surprise was that the balcony of our modest but beautifully hand-decorated room in the 17th century Domus Zamittello directly overlooked the carnival parade route at the top of Republic Street. This gave us a cosy, intimate perch to view the mad swirl of fantastically costumed characters dancing amongst the crowds below, and in the evening to watch the procession of looming floats pass by within near-touching distance of our balcony. Naturally we were then drawn down into the packed streets to rub shoulders (remember that?) with the throngs of spectators, sway alongside the ornately sequinned, feathered and elaborately masked dancers, and dodge the luminescent juggernauts trundling up and down the hilly streets of Valetta.
See more Carnival photos in the Projects Gallery
There have been carnivals in Malta since at least the 1530s, when the Knights of St John first arrived, that allowed the population (including the knights) to let off steam before the deprivations of Lent. In this 2020 version of Carnival, the festivities kicked off early, aimed mostly at children. Babies in carriages appeared in beautiful lace, while pre-teens of all ages charged through the city streets dressed as lycra-clad super heroes, ghosts, wild west cowboys and Disney princesses. Later on bands of adults masquerading as 18th century, frock-coated gentlemen and ladies in brocade and lace pannier gowns, began to appear at street corners – chatting, smoking cigarettes and preparing to process en masse through the busy main streets and café crowds.
In the early afternoon, anticipating the wondrous chaos to come, flamenco dancers, card sharks, geisha girls, parrots, unicorns and starfish people started to emerge from the shadows into the sunny streets. You name it; they were there. And the overarching theme seemed to be: the brighter the better.
Later still the most amazing, Venetian-style masked figures began to appear: female pirates with enormous, plumed tricorn hats came at us wielding curved sabres; men in high-collared, sequin-encrusted cloaks with overarching feather headdresses strutted their stuff; Aztec princesses jostled with Sun Kings; ruff-collared harlequins and pearl-strung jesters seemed to have escaped their playing cards; Arabian Knights; Folies Bergère showgirls; beak-masked Renaissance men. Even more surreal was the glimmer of eyes flickering behind the pouting masks of porcelain white and filigree gold.
As the day progressed you could feel the excitement building, as costumed dance troupes began to mass in corners around St George Square – where the evening’s singing, dancing and costume competitions would take place – and Caffe Cordina in Queen’s Square. At the top end of town, in Castille Square, enormous mobile platforms populated with day-glow characters were gathering. These huge, gaudy floats celebrate political and social satire, the comic and the grotesque, and it is an awesome experience to suddenly discover one looming over your shoulder! They’re made of papier maché and cardboard, take months to build (in secret), and can involve quite sophisticated engineering to make them perform their mockingly grand articulated gestures.
As dusk turned to night the insistent throb of carnival music was cranked up, blaring from pole-mounted speakers strategically placed all over the parade route, and the first technicolour juggernauts slowly began to descend Merchant Street into the depths of Valetta. Although the streets were crowded, it was possible to slowly walk and dance alongside the floats, criss-cross their path for a different view and generally feel part of the procession. The parade hit a bottleneck precisely where it made its first right-angled turn into Archbishop Street. This required the multi-story floats and their associated drivers, DJs, human decorations and interspersed dance troupes to negotiate a tight corner between ancient stone buildings. They then proceeded to St George Square, opposite the Grand Master’s Palace, where they paused to face a temporary stadium of revellers, television cameras and competition judges, before the lumbering climb up Republic Street to the City Gate.
See more Carnival photos in the Projects Gallery
The Valetta Carnival is a wonderfully rich, exciting and colourful celebration of life, that the vast majority of Maltese have grown up with and love. It was a real privilege to ‘drop in’ on their annual affair like we did, and to be so generously welcomed. They do Carnival for themselves, but they love to show it off! What I really liked was how whole families, and people of all ages, were able to participate together to create a spectacle, while others could celebrate in their own quirky fashion, and how this visually outrageous festival was at heart safe and friendly.
As a photographer the opportunities to capture colourful and expressive moments were almost overwhelming and, for me, required a quick and narrow choice to go with a free-flowing style of ‘street portraiture’. I had great fortune, as I can’t remember a single person dressed in fantasy costume, or pausing to enjoy the spectacle, turn me down when asked if I could take their picture. Many participants were clearly aware of their remarkable guises, and they proudly struck a practiced pose that showed off their Carnival persona to best advantage – whether it be a welcoming gloved hand held forward, a coy turn of the cheek, or scimitar held at the ready. Valetta Carnival really is a spectacle for everyone.
Jim Batty
jimbatty.com
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