Works on the previously announced Carnival Village will start once Malta obtains EU funding, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said.

The Culture Ministry said that through Festivals Malta, it shall be applying for the financing of a new project through the new wave of EU funding.

The Ministry added that the aim of the project is to provide a holistic multifunctional facility.

The Planning Authority has approved the construction of the Carnival Village near Marsa’s Millennia complex, which will spread over an area of 18,500sq.m, in 2016.

In February 2019, Bonnici said that the project was expected to be finished by the end of 2020.

In October 2021, the previous culture minister, Jose Herrera said that the government will unveil new plans including rehearsal studios for musicians and spaces for artists, to develop the project into a “culture and arts community.”

Asked for the reason behind this delay, the ministry said: “It transpired that archaeological remains were uncovered and hence necessary monitoring and preservation of the findings had to be carried out. Despite this situation, and other arising challenges related to construction and demolition waste which highly impacted contracted rates, no EU funds were lost.”

Asked whether there are plans to provide shelter for the carnival floats, Bonnici said: “Yes, there are plans, in fact, now that the operational funding programme of the EU launched a couple of days ago, we're going to apply to obtain funding so that we can construct spaces where the carnival enthusiasts can place their floats and even construct them.”

“The land is already secured and in our possession, this place will be constructed in Marsa near millennia. That space is already in our possession and so once we obtain the funding we could immediately proceed to make this pledge, which we have given to carnival enthusiasts, a reality.”

He could not, however, give a tentative date as to when carnival enthusiasts would be able to make use of these facilities, but said that he would be in a better situation to provide those details once EU funding is secured.

“Rest assured that we have everything in place so that once the funding is secured we can immediately start delivering on this major promise.”

He also mentioned how very recently, the ministry even launched a €1.2 million investment in vehicles to be used for Carnival. The investment was made through Festivals Malta and it saw the acquisition of 20 new tractors and 20 new trailers to be used for Carnival.