The reign of King Carnival in Gozo officially kicked off on Friday, despite its previous postponements due to bad weather. If the weather permits, activities will be spread throughout the five days, until Tuesday.

The Gozo Regional Carnival activities started Friday morning with the Mit-tfal ghat-Tfal competition by Gozitan school children. Children’s carnival started at 10.00 a.m. with a defilè through Republic Street and competitive dancing performed in the enclosure in Independence Square in Victoria. At 6.00 p.m. Friday evening, the Xaghra Local Council organised carnival activities in the main square of the village.

Saturday’s activities will start at 9.30 a.m. with dancing competitions performed by children, followed by shows performed by adults’ companies at Independence Square. In the evening, the Local Councils of Xewkija and San Lawrenz will be holding different activities in their respective squares, at 5.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. respectively.

Carnival activities on Sunday will start with a programme organised by the Munxar Local Council in the village square. Afterwards, at 3.00 p.m., the Gozo Regional Carnival will continue with a grand defilè and dancing competitions in the enclosure in Independence Square Victoria. On Monday 23rd February, the Local Councils of Zebbug, Qala and Sannat will be holding carnival activities in their respective localities. Carnival in Zebbug and Sannat will start at 6.30 p.m. while in Qala the programme starts at 7.00 p.m.

The Gozo Regional Carnival will officially come to an end on Tuesday at 7.00 p.m. with a grand defilè and dancing competitions in the enclosure and a Grand Finale at Independence Square. The King Carnival float this year was commissioned to John Grech from the Don Bosco Oratory.

As in the past years, a considerable number of Maltese are expected to cross over to Gozo from the mainland to spend the Carnival days in Gozo. The popular Nadur spontaneous Carnival is a particular attraction to Maltese, tourists and also Gozitans. It will be held during late hours in the evening, from Friday till Tuesday. Thursday evening, the Nadur Local Council held a programme of activities at St. Peter and St Paul’s Square.

The Gozo Regional Carnival is organised annually by the Committee for National and Regional Celebrations within the Ministry for Gozo, in collaboration with the Local Councils in Gozo.

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