Carnival is said to be the oldest festival in the world and is celebrated in many places

What is Carnival? What does it mean?

This is because it happens right before Lent. The word ‘Carnival’ comes from the Latin ‘carne vale’ which means ‘Meat is allowed’ WHY? This is because it happens right before Lent. During the 40 days of Lent – ending on Easter day – Christians tried not to eat meat.

In fact Carnival ends on Mardi Gras In fact Carnival ends on Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday (in French) and is also called Shrove Tuesday or pancake day.

WHY?

This is because people wanted to use up their eggs and milk before the fasting of Lent began – so they made pancakes and lots of other sweets!

What happens during these five days here in Malta?

Carnival opens with a parade Carnival opens with a parade. This is a dance representing the history of Malta. Half of the people dress up as Maltese and the other half of the people asTurks. They dance together showing how the Maltese won against the Turks in a battle a long time ago.

The Carnival celebrations in Malta mostly take place in Valletta and there are a lot of floats led by the King of Carnival.

It really takes a lot of work to make these beautiful, colourful floats also called ‘karrijiet’

Mmmmmmm! For carnival you can enjoy a cake called ‘Prinjolata’ and some sweets called ‘perlini’

There is also another reason why Carnival still exists and people love it so much...

You get to enjoy it and forget about your worries. You forget about rules and you get the chance to be someone else behind your mask and costume.

Happy Carnival!!