The Maltese Carnival is characterised by three elements, as he delineated; The paper mache floats, the energetic performers who sing and dance on them, and the eccentric costumes they don. As Artistic Director, Jason’s job is to oversee all these different components, as well as coordinate the parade and competitions when the actual festival rolls around.

“I meet the participants, they show me the teams that they are going to present in the carnival, and then we do some interviews. It’s like a small exam. We see the costumes, we see the floats, we see everything.” 

Jason has held this position for over a decade now, but his involvement with the festival has lasted much longer than that. Originally from Qormi, Jason’s been passionate about Carnival since the age of six. He recalled an old tradition of being carried from his hometown to Valletta in carts, or ‘karretuni’. “There was this guy known as Giuseppe Zerafa. He had most of the carts and he used to bring us here in Valletta to have fun at Carnival.” Over the years, Jason eventually became more active in the festival; “I got my own floats, my own companies, my own masks…I’m now the Artistic Director of the Maltese carnival and have been since 2013.”

When asked about the preparation process, Jason explained that after the February Carnival they start working on the Summer Carnival, which is held at St. Paul’s Bay and Marsaskala. In the meantime, they also begin the early stages of the next February Carnival. “It’s a year-long project, we work a lot with the participants. There are a lot of things to do, like the logistics here in Valletta especially. To have those floats here in the parade, it’s a little bit difficult.”