Malta’s Summer Carnival has officially been cancelled for 2021, with Festivals Malta, the organisers, saying it’ll make a further announcement about Notte Bianca separately,

This comes hours after they had previously announced that Notte Bianca 2021 was to be cancelled as well – however, they have since rolled that announcement back, confirming that Notte Bianca is still up in the air.

The announcement was made in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Just today, two people died from COVID-19 related complications.

“Considering the measures taken on mass events, Festivals Malta has decided to cancel this event, as a precaution to not only safeguard the health of our staff, artists, carnival participants and technical crew but also that of our patrons. On behalf of Festivals Malta, I would like to thank all the artists, participants and those involved for all their work and cooperation,” Annabelle Stivala, Festivals Malta CEO, said.

Festivals Malta said they are still working on other events like Mużika Mużika Sajf and the new television programme Mużika Mużika il-Vjaġġ Ikompli.

Notte Bianca is a popular annual event and major draw that sees thousands of people explore the streets of Valletta as artistic and creative installations are set up throughout the capital city.

Following the announcement, Valletta Cultural Agency chairman Jason Micallef voiced the concerns of many in the event industry, wondering if this was the end of the entertainment industry as we know it.

“Will the arts and culture sectors continue to be blatantly discriminated against by health authorities?” Micallef asked.

“What is the situation for cultural/musical/performance arts activities?” he continued. “Done forever? Are artistic and cultural events being considered inferior to all other forms of activity, including sports and religious?”