History

The name ‘Tal-Banda’ (which literally means ‘of the band’) was established more than a decade ago.

In 1990, Charles was working on his first creation, a float commissioned by a local brass band. The works were getting too intriguing and so he decided that the float would be included in the national carnival competitions. All other participants referred to Charles as Tal-Banda, hence Charlie Tal-Banda became a nickname. Nowadays this nickname has become a synonym for quality and innovation, popular with carnival and spectacle lovers.

Tal-Banda are members of Foundation European Carnival Cities (FECC).

Charlie Briffa

Born in 5th August 1965, Charlie was immediately thrown into carnival at the age of 5. As a child he used to help a float maker in Qormi, his hometown, and his adolescence was spent in such an environment where he got the basics of papier-mâché and float designs. Through practice and experience he learned the skills of clay forming and painting, two of the qualities which made Charlie so synonymous to quality. In 1990 he decided to try his hands on his own first creation, a float commissioned by a local brass band.

Charlie considers himself an artist, and not just a float maker, and he exhibits his works of art during a specific period each year for people to enjoy, criticize and wonder about. Carnival is very important to his life.

As he states, “carnival is not part of my life, it is my life. Carnival remains part and parcel of my joie-de-vivre.”

The best quality in Charlie is his simplicity which makes him one of a kind in an environment of competition and lack of trust which reign among carnival float workers. In fact if he had to choose to live in a past life he would definitely have lived in the Roman period. However making new friends is what gives Charlie the boost to create new ideas and develop them into a triumphal masterpiece.

When he finds time, his leisure activities include gymnasium, swimming, chatting on the net and eager party-reveling.

Carlo Olivari D’Emanuele

Carlo was not always into carnival. Instead, when he was younger he used to speak jokingly against it, and never bothered to go to Valletta during festivities.

Born on June 14th June 1975, he found his place in the artistic world through drama, writing and directing various plays in his locality, Hamrun. He also worked as floral designer creating decorations for his local parish church and other churches together with various wedding celebrations throughout the country. Other work throughout the years has been created with wood, concrete, flowers or pen.

Carlo then met Charlie in 1997, and there was no looking back. Carnival became simply an obsession, incorporating various forms of art he was used to work with and others completely new.

As he states, “carnival is a compendium of different arts joined together to create one singular attraction.”

In fact he immediately put his hands on papier-mâché and learned clay modeling. Apart from that he learned the craft of creating designs for costumes, mixing the accompanying music and creating choreographies for the float and its dancers. Carlo’s favorite part in all this however is the pooling of ideas and imagination a float entails with Charlie to create a new float.

If he had the choice of a previous life he would have gone to the bohemian period with values such as freedom, beauty, truth and love being the four singular values on which he portrays his own life.

In spare time, he likes to read, write novels, plays, poems, and songs in different languages, design clothes and costumes for women, and listening to Mediterranean music, which is the main inspiration and source of relaxation.