Carnival kicks off in Valletta
Months of work all worth it, says float builder
People in costume hit the streets of Valletta yesterday as colourful floats paraded along Republic Street on the first day of carnival.
King Carnival led the parade along the capital city's main street. The floats then went into the enclosure in Freedom Square, where dances were performed.
The celebration will continue today with activities at Freedom Square and a defilé along Republic Street. In the afternoon there will be dances in the enclosure while the parade leaves from Castille Square through Merchants Street, St John's Street and Republic Street.
Tomorrow morning there will be carnival activities at Spinola Square in St Julians, while in the afternoon there will be another programme in the Freedom Square enclosure.
The executive secretary of the National Folklore Commission, Anton Miceli, said 23 floats were taking part in this year's carnival. The commission had not received any reports of damage to the floats as a result of the inclement weather.
One of the carnival enthusiasts said it took him about seven months to build this year's float. Although the work started off with a handful of people, Charles Briffa, of San Gwann, said that in the past few weeks about 75 had been working on the float every day.
Mr Briffa, known as Tal-Banda, explained that the idea had first to be sketched out and then the metal frame built, complemented with wood. The next step was to cover the whole float with paper, which was when it started taking shape. It was then coated and painted.
Mr Briffa said the hard work was all worth it when he saw people enjoying themselves so much on the float.