Nadur Carnival 2009 - Gozo

Taken from:
http://www.nadur.gov.mt/uniquecarnival.shtml

Nadur is famous for its annual Carnival Celebrations or rather Revelry held on the 5 days preceding Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

Nadur Carnival is a unique experience! It is so unique for the spontaneity and creativity of all those taking part. Some even call this as Grotesque or Macabre Carnival.

It is not one organized by any committee and subsequently no rules apply. Sunset invites a multitude of masked and hooded creatures to throng the streets of Nadur - creatures wearing all kinds of funny and grotesque costumes, representing every sort of leg pulling, all ways of life and steaming off all kinds of frustrations.

"There is no end to imagination - imagination inspired by the every day ills and sufferings. Revellers wearing only a sheet or bedspread, in boiler suits, in clergy or nun habits, wearing grotesque masks inspired by the current affairs, locally and internationally- all walk up and down the streets for hours on end. All covered from head to foot and no one dare stop and unmask these devils. All one hears is a confusion of the sounding of horns, ringing of bells, banging, whistling and anything, which could add to the din and create an eerie and bizarre atmosphere.

It is not uncommon to be able to watch the mimicking of a wedding ceremony, couples in beds on wheels feigning lovemaking, in exaggerated pregnancy costumes, the trailing of live animals like a sheep, a goat or a donkey, the carrying of live or dead mice in cages and others dressed up as doctors and nurses performing operations by sawing off limbs. All walk up and down arousing the curiosity of the onlookers who try to identify the real person but of course to no avail as the mask covers it all."

Seeing is believing!

This SPONTANEOUS CARNIVAL at Nadur has survived the times against all odds and we can proudly say that it is the only traditional carnival celebration still held in the Maltese islands which attracts thousands of people, not only Maltese but also tourists, to enjoy the revelry that goes on.

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We left Malta on Saturday afternoon and arrived back on the 5am ferry on Sunday.
After the street party, floats and carnival cake we found ourselves in a very Gozitan bar with traditional folk music where we danced until the early hours.

A Sunday at the Monti

Last Sunday a small group of us from university sacrificed our lie-ins and went to have a look around the Sunday market in Valletta. 

The market - just outside the Valletta bastions

A dress rehearsal for carnival next week

Inside the Carmelite church

The Feast of St Paul Shipwreck

In AD 60 St Paul was shipwrecked on Malta as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles 27,28.

St Paul is the Patron Saint of Malta and the anniversary of the shipwreck is now a public holiday celebrated with a feast. 

The Legend of St Paul and the Viper

This is a well known legend. It is believed that St Paul was gathering wood to add to the fire to warm himself and the other shipwrecked people when out of the sticks came a venomous viper that bit him. The Maltese people present expected him to die of poisoning but instead no harm came to him. It is said that from that day snakes and scorpions in Malta are quite harmless and not poisonous.