Covid-19 has taken its toll on Carnival companies this year, but plans are already underway for 2022 and it is expected to be one of the best yet, Festival Malta Carnival Artistic Director Jason Busuttil told this newsroom.
For the first time since WWII, the boisterous Carnival celebrations that take over the islands during the month of February have been cancelled as the ban on mass events and high numbers of daily Covid-19 cases persist.
Instead, a downscaled and safer version will take place, with an exhibition of Carnival floats and costumes across Malta which will be broadcasted on television and online.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, Carnival Artistic Director Jason Busuttil said that this was quite a tough pill to swallow for Carnival companies who are usually bustling about their workshops during this time of year.
“Preparations usually start from the previous summer, but this time around, participants and volunteers could not meet to rehearse or anything. Even financially, sponsors have had to hold back from contributing this year as they were not in a position to do so,” Busuttil explained.
The floats which will be exhibited are at a much smaller scale than usual, he said, adding that they only require one or two people to be developed so that not many people have to gather at their workshops.
The themes were chosen by art students at the University of Malta with each theme delivering a strong message on current issues, such as the environment.
Additionally, there will also be four installations set up in Valletta, strategically placed in areas that are not typically filled with masses of people to avoid instigating any spontaneous gatherings. More information on this is expected to be revealed during the coming month.
Busuttil believes that there is hope for the summer Carnival to take place in August, as long as restrictions permit, with some preparations already underway. However, expectations are at their highest for the upcoming Carnival in 2022 which “will be one of the biggest yet!”.
Nonetheless, he noted that this all depends on whether the teams behind the companies that make Malta’s Carnival what it is reunite once more as the number of volunteers has decreased drastically due to Covid-19 restrictions – “I just hope that in 2022 they return back to their respective company.”
The Malta Independent spoke with a number of Carnival companies who shared the challenges they faced during the pandemic, what effects they think this year will have on Carnivals to come and their hopes for the next year.
Stephania Gellel – Putullu & Stephania Carnival Company
The structure that we usually have for Carnival remained the same, but on a much smaller scale. Those in the Triumphal floats category will be making small floats, while Carnival companies like us will be creating a couple of costumes to be exhibited on television and online.
After participating in so many competitions and festivities, it is tough to face the silence of this typically chaotic period. We do not have that many people working at the workshop, just my partner and I and a handful of helpers, and the work is nowhere close to that which we usually collectively put in to create a full-sized float and costumes for all our dancers.
We have to limit the number of people that can go down to the workshop at once and we divide ourselves across different areas of the workshop. The connection and sense of community we had during these times are definitely not the same because of this. We are just letting ourselves get lost in the memories of previous years, sharing photos of past Carnivals together.
This year, we did not even ask for our sponsors' help seeing the state that the economy is in and we will only be working with the funds that Festivals Malta gave us for this project.
Our company currently has no plans for the Carnival in summer. We must take it step by step as it is useless to spend time and money on a float which we cannot even use afterwards. However, we always participate in it so if we are told that the event will take place, we would not pass up the opportunity for sure.
The same goes for 2022, we lack manpower at the moment so there are no preparations, but I think it will be a huge event after having been deprived of it for an entire year.
There might be people who cut themselves off from Carnival after this year, but I think that anyone who holds it dear to their heart will look forward for next year.
Stiefnu Debattista – Beqqu u Stiefnu Carnival Company
We will not be partaking in any installations this year as we are putting all our attention on Carnival 2022. We had already started working on some ideas for it, but we had to stop because of the pandemic which took a hit on our progress, even with regards to sponsors.
Volunteers were already a problem before the pandemic honestly, but obviously the pandemic instilled more fear; even in us due to the increased responsibilities we had to take care of. Before the pandemic, we used to be ten to fifteen people at the workshop at a time. Now we are only around three people there, working a good distance away from each other, so we have fewer hands-on deck and progress is slow.
Things are not looking so bright for summer, so we have not made any plans for Carnival then and we are staying focused on going all out for Carnival 2022.
Carnival is ideal to take place each year because it is a time when people come together and take a break from all the news and politics we are bombarded with on a daily basis, just like Christmas break. This year we did not have any breaks apart from Christmas since the attention has been on the pandemic and politics.
I think the lack of Carnival this year will be felt so deeply that next year will be huge, especially considering the additional time we have been given to prepare for it now. This pandemic also helped us in a way as we had time to organize better, do some maintenance around the workshop and put more emphasis on health and safety.
It will be hard watching the videos of previous Carnivals they plan to broadcast this year, but this will definitely keep the Carnival spirit alive as well. We are a country that loves celebrating Carnival, so I have high hopes for next year.
My wish is that people do not gather in farmhouses as usual which would destroy our efforts to keep the virus controlled, and risk losing another Carnival.
We were surprised to have people asking what we will be doing this year, even if it was a small celebration, but obviously there is nothing we can do. From our end, we are taking our celebrations to a simple dinner among the few people that are still going to the workshop.
Chris Aquilina – Tad-Deheb Carnival Company
In previous years, I had to sacrifice time from work to go to the workshop. Today, the sacrifice is not going to the workshop. I have been working in Carnival for over 40 years now, so it has been very difficult.
We will be participating in the costume exhibitions this year but, like other companies, we are very few people at the workshop, which is a huge difference from last year when we were working day and night from the start of January up until Carnival.
While I appreciate the efforts to keep the Carnival spirit alive this year, it is not in our DNA to just create something and leave it there for show. We are usually celebrating every step of the way.
Sponsors have also been hard to find. It is just how business works; if they have money to market themselves they will help, but at the moment everyone has to fend for themselves.
As for Carnival 2022, we are still uncertain on whether it will be able to take place or not – hopefully it will, of course. Nonetheless, one needs a lot of money in order to maintain the level of quality that Carnival companies have been producing.
Everything just feels so far away, and it makes you question whether things will really go back to normal or if we will have enough time and money to invest in our next project.
Nonetheless, I do not think that the cancellation of Carnival events will dampen people's spirits. On the contrary, celebrations will be even greater once we are able to carry on with Carnival as we know it.
Once we start coming out of this pandemic bit by bit, I firmly believe that Carnival enthusiasts will be heading down to their workshops more frequently and giving it their all for the next one.
Our fear is that people have become lazier after being at home for so long and it will take a while to inject that adrenaline back. This applies for all feasts not just Carnival.