Strictly speaking, carnival started out as a religious festival. It was a period during which meat was consumed before the forty days of fasting that immediately followed. The word carnival derives from medieval Italian 'carne vale' or 'meat is allowed', for once Lent started, meat could not be consumed. Lent was also a period, during which Catholics were also told to refrain from having sex. Locally, the term used was 'sawm u astinenza' or 'fasting and abstinence'. One abstained from meat and its derivatives, in particular dairy products and eggs. I can still remember one particular parish priest from Paola recounting how the first parish priest of Paola, by the surname of Chircop, used to pronounce these two words, in particular, the emphatic manner by which , he used to pronounce abstinence to drive home the message.
Therefore, many in the past looked forward to Carnival as a means of letting go and expressing their inhibitions in the merry making that accompanied this pre-Lenten period. The six days of merry making started with Giovedi grasso or (Fat Thursday), ending the following Tuesday or as it was called in Italian martedi grasso, in French mardi gras or Shrove Tuesday. The following day is Ash Wednesday when the Lenten period kicks off in preparation for Easter. When the Protestant revolution against Rome started five hundred years ago, those countries in Western Europe that became Protestant ceased celebrating carnival as some form of a Christian festival. Carnival became principally a Catholic celebration.
For many decades now, Malta has been celebrating carnival according to the Catholic calendar. This year's tradition was marred by bad weather. The heavy rain and high winds that hit the island made it impossible for the planned activities to proceed uninterrupted. Having had to cancel some activities, the organizers took the decision to re-schedule and hold some events on the following weekend when, for people of Christian faith, the period of Lent would have begun. This caused controversy mainly due to the fact that Malta has now joined the rest of mainland Europe in its agenda of deChristianization. This agenda is being forcefully pushed forward, after it was embraced and endorsed, by a section of our middle-classes.
These middle-class liberals attempted to use this occasion to provoke and in fact questions were sent to the Curia asking whether it was correct or not to hold carnival during Lent. Yet this ploy failed. The aim was to use the argument that in Malta, we are now living in a secular state, therefore our festival should no longer be dictated by a religous calander. The local Church did not bite the bullet and avoided being dragged into what was clearly meant to be a provocation.
The added two days was neither here nor there. It did however allow for those participants who had had their numbers cancelled because of the weather to still perform and display their flare and artistry. I happened to be in Valletta on Saturday morning and any revelry was muted though the enthusiasts were there.
Controversy came from within a section of the population least expected by the middle-class liberals. The harsh controversy was mostly between the enthusiasts of the Good Friday and Easter activities and those who are pro-Carnival. In truth, some happened to be enthusiasts for both activitives. This was one of the reasons why the middle-class liberals failed to find fertile ground. They were appealing to people who are not part of their deChristianization mentality.
On my part, it does not make a difference if carnival is held on its proper days or during another period. I am not a carnival enthusiast and this lack of enthusiasm is linked to what happened in the seventies. I come from a family that were strong carnival lovers. My paternal grandmother was a teacher of Italian in the early 1920s and she loved carnival. She belonged to the middle-class reality of the early twentieth century. She made a point to dress her children on carnival days. My father continued dressing up for carnival practically until he got married in 1950. I have a photo of him dressed up with a group of other men. One of these men in costume went to become a successful businessman. If I am not mistaken he is dressed as a woman. There is here no gender issue. I am stating this to show that carnival, unlike the general impression that has been created in recent times, was not only a lower class activity. It was a festival that the middle and higher classes in Malta looked forward to in earnest.
When the Labour Government of the 70s started experimenting with the dates of carnival, it ended up killing it. In 1971, it was decided to move Carnival to May. Better climatic conditions was used to justify this change. In truth, in May, Labour used to organize its own 'carnival', held on the first of May, which was called the battle of flowers. Carnival was then set a week or two afterwards, becoming some sort of an extended Labour Party activity. But this was a big mistake. Carnival ceased to belong to one and all. It became an expression of one particular class; that of Labour Party supporters. But not all Labour supporters embraced it. Mostly those from the lower classes did. Carnival ceased to be a middle-class activity. Moreover, having carnival in May meant having it during the exam period. This was another reason why the enthusiasm for carnival died down with a section of my generation.
The situation became so dire that, at some point, Government had to intervene and started involving school children to keep carnival alive. Schools began constructing floats and school children started taking part in the dancing competitions. There were even trophies for the best school float and dance. In particular, students attending Trade Schools - but not only - started making floats. Art teachers were instructed to create carnival floats. The situation turned into the absurd. There was an incident - if my memory does not fail me - which happened at a school in Santa Venera, where teachers built a carnival float in the school hall. When finished, they realized that they could not get it out of the hall. The door of the hall was too small! The story became a national joke. But what do you think was the solution? In Maltese, the expression is 'ġie mċarrat il-ħajt'. Literally, they tore the wall away to get the float out.
When the Nationalists came into government in 1987, they took two important decisions. Carnival was scheduled back to February, before the beginning of Lent. The second decision was to stop government schools from making carnival floats. This too created controversy. Many in the Labour camp argued that this move was going to destroy carnival. The main argument of the Labour opposition back then was that without the participation of the schools, there would not be sufficient floats. Then there was the issue of costs. Carnival enthusiasts had even to combat with adverse weather and in 1988 rain and bad weather created havoc to some carnival floats. Nevertheless, through thick and thin, Government's decision began to breathe oxygen into Carnival. Its popularity grew because once again it was back as part of a bigger Catholic festival.
Carnival is not an activity that can be held in isolation. It is an activity that is lived within a context. Some elements may change with time - as has happened with fasting and abstinence - but in the wider framework of the Easter festivities, Carnival is still strong. When Labour tried to make it part of the May Labour festival, it killed our tradition. Now, that middle-class liberals have tried to apply Marxist relativistic theory to provoke. This has backfired because these Liberal-Marxists refuse to learn from past mistakes.