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Malta Carnival
5 to 9 Feb 2027 · St George's Square and Republic Street, Valletta
Add the seven days to your plan
Submit a photo
5 to 9 Feb 2027 · St George's Square and Republic Street, Valletta
Add the seven days to your planTwo carnivals run on the same five days in February, and you can do both. Valletta gives you large floats, masks and dance companies in competition. Nadur, a ferry away on Gozo, gives you hoods, satire and no programme at all.
Event guide, Malta. Meridian Dispatch.
The 2027 carnival fills five days, 5 to 9 February (Friday to Tuesday), ending the day before Ash Wednesday on 10 February, in Valletta, Floriana and other locations.
Friday opens with dance companies in St George's Square and the King Carnival parade along Republic Street. Saturday, Sunday and Monday usually hold a morning and a later session in and around the square, with the parade of every float on Monday. Tuesday ends with a dance show in the square and the Gran Finale in Floriana.
General access is free, and the processions can be watched from Republic Street as dancers and floats leave the square. A ticket is needed only for the dance show itself, in the arena on St George's Square: seats are sold online through Ticketline, from the Buy Tickets link on Festivals Malta's carnival page, and can go on sale after the programme itself. The Nadur carnival has no tickets at all.
Monday, when the evening parade brings out every triumphal and company float. For the dance companies, Tuesday's show brings all the sections together in St George's Square, before the finale in Floriana.
On St Anne Street in Floriana, just outside Valletta's City Gate, on the carnival's last evening. Floats are parked along the street with carnival acts among them, into the late evening. Its programme entry carries the hours and any ticket.
A spontaneous street carnival in the Gozo town of Nadur, not officially organised, with no programme and no choreographed dances. It runs every night from 5 to 9 February 2027, from sunset until late. Masks and hooded outfits are common, and small floats satirise current events.
Families do better early in the evening, before Nadur grows more crowded. Those with younger children may prefer the organised parades in Victoria, the villages or Valletta, which is the family-friendly side of the carnival.
Yes. The ferry between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa sails all night, and extra buses usually carry riders on to Valletta and Sliema on carnival nights. Boats can be busy at the peak.
No costume is required in Valletta, though many people wear one. In Nadur costumes are optional as well, but a mask or a hooded outfit is the usual dress.
Strong wind can drop the floats from a session while the dance companies still perform, and a weather warning can cancel a whole day, ferries included.
Valletta or Floriana puts every session within a walk, the finale on St Anne Street included. For the Nadur nights, a bed on Gozo removes the late ferry back to Malta.
Driving is a poor idea on a parade day, with almost nowhere to park in Valletta. Take the bus to the terminus outside City Gate, or walk in from Floriana.
Valletta's carnival is a walk from the arena to Floriana. Nadur's is a ferry ride and a hood. Tap a stop on the map.
The dance companies compete here, and the floats set off from here. A seat in the arena is the only way to see a whole show, so buy one for the session you care about most.
Valletta's main street runs from the square to City Gate. Stand anywhere along it without a ticket: the dancers and the floats come out of the square and pass you.
The way in on foot, with the bus terminus outside. During carnival part of the terminus moves into Floriana, so read Malta Public Transport's notice for the week.
Just outside the gate, on the way to Floriana. On the last evening the dance show in the square ends while the finale is still young, so walk straight out past the fountain and you catch most of both.
The Gran Finale fills this long avenue on the last evening, with floats parked along it and carnival acts among them, into the late evening. Read its entry in the programme for any ticket.
The terminal at Malta's northern tip, the far end of the island from Valletta. On carnival nights special late buses usually run from here to Valletta and Sliema as the boats come in.
For certainty, book a taxi for your landing time before you cross.
The ferry runs through the night. Late in the evening the boats leave roughly every 45 minutes, so read the night timetable for February before you set out.
Expect a full boat and a queue at the peak, and allow for it on the way home.
Where you land. On carnival nights shuttle buses usually meet the ferries for the short climb to Nadur, and direct buses link Nadur with Victoria.
The streets around Nadur Square fill once the sun is down, every night of the five. There is no stage and no audience: you walk the streets among revellers in hoods and macabre or satirical masks.
Wear something over your face, homemade is the norm, with shoes you do not mind ruining.
Gozo's capital holds the island's organised parades, the better choice with young children. Sleep on Gozo, in Victoria or by the sea at Marsalforn, and Nadur needs no late ferry.
The usual shape of each day in Valletta, and Nadur every night. Festivals Malta publishes the exact hours with its programme nearer the date.
Six nights, Thu 4 to Wed 10 Feb: all five days and a night in Nadur, with a spare night either side.
Nothing set
Nothing set
From late afternoonDance companies in the square, then King Carnival leads the floats along Republic Street.
After darkThe first night on Gozo.
Watch the parade from Republic Street if you have no ticket.
Mid-morningA morning special: dance companies, then King Carnival and the floats.
FreeIl-Qarċilla, a street farce going back to at least the 18th century, on Ordnance Street.
From late afternoonMore companies and floats in the square.
After darkSaturday is usually Nadur's busiest night.
For Gozo tonight, leave Valletta after the farce and skip the evening session.
Mid-morningCompanies, a traditional carnival band and its grotesque masks.
Into early eveningMore companies in the square, and the floats if the wind allows.
The afternoon runs on
After darkAnother night of hoods and masks.
After a late night in Nadur, drop the morning and come in for the afternoon.
Mid-morningA dance show: local schools, competing companies and guests from Gozo.
Nothing set
From late afternoonThe parade of every triumphal and company float, from the square through the streets.
After darkGozo stays out late again.
If you watch one parade, make it this one. Take your place on Republic Street before it starts.
Nothing set
Nothing set
From late afternoonAll the dance sections in the square, then the Gran Finale on St Anne Street, Floriana.
After darkThe last night before Ash Wednesday.
Leave the square when the show ends and walk out through City Gate to the finale.
A windproof layer, because February is changeable and gales come through. A mask or costume if you want one, and an indoor plan.
The car, for Valletta. For Nadur, any schedule. Nothing is staged there; you walk the streets.
When the forecast turns, stay for more than one float session, and cross to Nadur on an early night so a lost crossing leaves you another.
On a called-off day, look for the floats parked in St James Ditch, below the bastions by City Gate. For a few hours indoors, take the Grandmaster's Palace or the museum at Fort St Elmo, which shuts on Tuesdays in February.
Book Valletta two to three months ahead. Our pick is The Phoenicia Malta, in Floriana just outside City Gate, within a walk of both the square and St Anne Street.
The capital on its narrow peninsula, between two harbours.
State Rooms and an Armoury, for a day of bad weather.
Gozo's capital, under the walls of its Cittadella.
A seaside village on Gozo's north coast, a short drive from Nadur.
Outside City Gate, where the floats pass on the way to Floriana.
The plan keeps each session, the ferry and your hotel on your phone for the seven days.
Add the seven days to your plan
The official pages this guide was checked against.
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