It was touted as a flagship investment for Malta's cultural sector but plans to develop a €6m carnival village never materialised, even though millions of euro worth of tenders were issued for its construction.  

The project originally featured in the Labour Party’s 2013 electoral manifesto and almost €4.2m of EU funds was allocated to it three years later. The scheduled end date for the project was 1st June 2020. It promised to identify an appropriate area close to Valletta to build warehouses in which carnival enthusiasts could work.

A site in Marsa was chosen and plans for the project were eventually drafted by architect William Lewis, the Labour Party’s organisation secretary, in 2016.

The project was to consist of 18 large warehouses for floats, eight smaller ones for the building of masked figures and the sewing of costumes, a visitors’ centre, a dance studio, a souvenir shop, an audio-visual room, a museum and a cafeteria. In addition, it was also to incorporate office space, showers and a space where carnival material can be disposed of once carnival is over, as well as 90 parking spots.

An artist impression of the site presented in 2015. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The existing building on the site was demolished and a tender for excavation works was awarded to Polidano Brothers in 2016, to the tune of €428,000. A series of other tenders related to the site followed in 2017 and 2019, including a €2.2m tender for the construction of the site which was awarded to Bava Holdings and an €884,465 tender for mechanical and electrical works which went to Kencar Group.

Quietly shelved?

Despite the award of these tenders, the project appeared to have been quietly shelved. When asked whether construction works ever began, Bava Holdings declined to comment and directed Times of Malta to Festivals Malta, the entity in charge of the project.

Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Culture confirmed that although the project had stalled, there are plans to revive it through a new wave of EU funding. 

“Back in 2016, works started with the demolishing of the existing buildings and other excavation works to prepare the site for the development of this project. 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 the construction and demolition waste which highly impacted contracted rates, no EU funds were lost”, the spokesperson said.

The new project is set to be a broader arts complex, rather than a carnival village as originally planned, incorporating different forms of artistic practice under a single roof. A spokesperson described this as “a holistic and multifunctional facility that will achieve the expectations of the Carnival enthusiasts”, although project plans remain under wraps.

Having disappeared from its 2017 electoral manifesto, the project reappeared in the Labour Party’s 2022 manifesto as an arts and culture complex which will “also incorporate the carnival village”.

Although plans for the new project are “at an advanced stage”, EU funding for this new project is not guaranteed and will need to be secured from scratch.

A timeline for the project has not been made public, but sources told Times of Malta that government hopes to complete the project by the end of the current legislature.