The Maltese Islands are a strong Catholic country, with a wide diversity of festivities which makes up the religious year. Feast days are the life of the Islands and some holy days are actually national holidays. However, the most important events to all villages are their individual feasts, honouring their parish patron saint.

A tradition that stretches back to the sixteenth century, village parish feasts are a time for both spiritual contemplation and for the whole parish to come together. These are the main social events in the village years, and the week of the feast is the outcome of months of hard work by willing volunteers and villagers. The festive commemorations are also a time of food, drink, and merriment which brings the Mediterranean roots of the locals. Families prepare large Christmas and Easter lunches. During the feasts the streets are lined with carts, selling a wide assortment of different foods, as well as the more traditional sweets and delicacies.

February in Malta brings along the Carnival week, which takes on a traditional pattern – extravagantly coloured floats area perched on lorries ready for the procession, children running around in fancy costumes, and Malta’s main nightlife centre (Paceville) catching the late night carnival goers who pile into the clubs and bars, still wear -

ing their outrageous outfits. The heart of the action takes place in Valletta, though various towns and villages across the Islands have their own version of festivities. Carnival takes on a more macabre and funny mood in the village of Nadur, Gozo.

During the Holy Week and Easter, people flock to Mass in big numbers to commemorate the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. Holy Week commences on the Friday preceding Good Friday, when the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows is carried in a procession through the streets of many towns and villages. On Maundy Thursday, the ‘seven visits’ take place, which consist of visits to seven different churches to pay homage to the Alters of Repose. Good Friday gives a sombre outlook, as churches are deprived of the traditional ornamental style and red is the dominant colour, symbolizing the Blood of Christ. On Easter Sunday a procession of the Risen Christ moves around the streets close to the church, cleared at the end when the statue-bearers take a run to carry the statue triumphantly back into the church.

The Feast of San Girgor (St. Gregory) falls on the Wednesday following Easter Sunday. A religious procession starts at the tiny chapel of St. Clement in Zejtun. According to tradition this procession was first held as a thanksgiving to God for his intervention to halt the Bubonic Plague which killed some 11,000 Islanders in the years 1675 – 1676. After the procession people head towards the nearby fishing village of Marsaxlokk, having family picnics.

Every year the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Malta Tourism Authority organise the Malta International Fireworks Festival, normally held at the Grand Harbour in Valletta at the end of April. This event is a showcase of the best pyrotechnical displays produced by both Maltese and international acclaimed pyrotechnic firms. This festival also commemorates the anniversary of Malta’s entry into the European Union.

The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts organises an open air National Folk Singing Festival at the Argotti Gardens in Floriana; a jamboree of local and Mediterranean folk songs during the month of May.

The feast of St. Peter and St. Paul on 29 June marks an important event in the Maltese calendar. Apart from the religious holiday, a country harvest and folk festival is organised. This festival is named L-Imnarja, which means a festival of light. This sociable and fun affair having families and friends picnics during the day and night, takes place in Malta’s largest natural woodland, Buskett.

The Malta Jazz Festival takes place on the third weekend of July every year. Staged below the bastions of the sixteenth century city of Valletta and by the waters of the Grand Harbour, three Mediterranean nights of international jazz by world-renowned players take place. This event is organised by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.

During the months of July and August runs a celebration of the Malta Arts Festival, comprising of a wide variety of art forms. This celebration appropriately transforms the Old Opera House and Freedom Square in Valletta. Other venues participating in this festival include the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the MITP Theatre in the St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, both in Valletta, and The Grand Harbour Marina in Birgu.

The 8th of September is a special public holiday since Malta commemorates two events: the birth of the Holy Virgin Maria Bambina and the end of the Great Siege of 1565. The feast is celebrated in the villages and towns of Senglea, Naxxar, Mellieħa, and Xagħra. A rowing regatta is held every year in the Grand Harbour on the day to commemorate the Great Siege, an annual event since 1878.

An annual event on the Island of Gozo, Festival Mediterranea, offers all that Gozo boasts of in the cultural and artistic arena. This mid-autumn festival has an Island-wide aspect, with a wide variety of indoor and outdoor events. Festival Mediterranea offers visitors a great opportunity to learn about Gozo’s temple and archaeological sites through a series of lectures and visits.

Christmas is a highly celebrated religious festivity in Malta, celebrated to its full with nativity scenes, displays of cribs, carol services, and other events which are normally organised in each locality. St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta organise a very special, spiritual evening with candlelit carol singing. Visiting cribs is a popular activity at Christmas time, and many Islanders spend time going round the ‘Presepju’, some of which are very elaborate showing the work of dedicated craftsmen. The annual pantomime held at the Manoel Theatre is a Christmas highlight; a happy mix of good slapstick humour for children and satire for adults.

For further information about religious feasts in Malta and Gozo please contact the Public Relations Officer at the Archdiocese of Malta on (+356) 2124 1281 or by email on info@maltachurch.org.mt