It used to be believed that it was the Order of St John that had introduced carnival festivities in Malta. Now we know that the people celebrated carnival at least well over a century earlier. Public dancing, music, fancy dressing up, fireworks, fairs, comedy, tournaments, masks, all contributed to an interval of revelry to serve as a prelude to the penitential period of Lent. It was an interlude when strict social barriers tended to break down temporarily, when the rich mixed with the poor, the aristocracy with the plebs, urged by one common denominator - having fun. A carnival float in 1934. Over the years, the frivolities of carnival happened to coincide with some high-profile historical events, like when the young knights rioted violently in 1639 because the grand master had prohibited women in the Auberges during carnival. The hotheads blamed the influence of the Jesuits on the grand master. One of the floats in the great 1901 Water Carnival. The Jesuits had to bear the brunt of that wrath and were forcefully bundled on to a vessel and expelled from Malta. On another occasion, in 1822, the church of Ta’ Ġieżu in Valletta hosted an assembly of young boys to shield them from...