While the carnival is essentially associated with exuberance and extraordinary celebrations, one event on 11 February 1823 led to a travesty that caused the fatality of over one hundred children. This tragedy transpired in a stampede at the convent of the Franciscan Friars Minor, now more commonly known as ‘Ta’ Giezu’ in Valletta. Ironically, as the festivities used to cause multiple disturbances in the city, the children unluckily caught in the tragic room were primarily out to protect themselves from the ruckus of drunken locals celebrating the Catholic festive season.

As a yearly practice, catechism teachers tended to take a group of boys who came from the lower classes of Valletta and the Three Cities to Floriana to attend mass. Once the mass would be finished, the boys would then be taken back to Valletta where bread paid for by the government would be given to the boys as a small treat.

This accident was precipitated by an unfortunate set of events. Firstly, the mass took longer than expected, leading up to the children’s walk to Valletta to coincide with the crowds returning home from the carnival celebrations that evening. Secondly, the vestry door that led up to the convent’s corridor was open, awaiting the children to arrive from the mass. This allowed adults and other children to get in. Finally, the third unfortunate incident which led to the travesty that haunted the city for decades was the lamp in the corridor going out, causing the trigger of sheer panic and confusion by everyone who was left in darkness.