During the summer season there is a festa day practically every weekend and no visitor to Malta should leave the island without experiencing one. The five-day festivities include the triduum, the eve of the feast, and the feast day itself. The celebrations revolve around the saint and his place in the village church. Besides the special Church services there are outdoor festivities, with band marches, food and drink and spectacular firework displays.

The village church, which is the pride of every villager, is draped with red damask and decorated with beautiful flowers. All its gold and silver treasures, as well as crystal chandeliers, are put on display thus creating a fitting setting for the statue of the patron saint which is placed in a prominent position in the church. The church facades are illuminated with hundreds of multicolored bulbs, as are the streets, across which are suspended massive and colorful drapes. Hundreds of flags are flown on rooftops while drapes and light bulbs are hung across the width of the covered balconies - typical of traditional Maltese houses. The climax of each festa being the pontifical high mass celebrated in the mornings (09.15hrs) and in the evenings (19.00hrs). A religious procession ensues whereby the statues of the patron saint is carried shoulder high through the village streets.
 

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

1st January New Years Day

FEBRUARY
Carnival is observed at its traditional period as the 5 days before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It celebrated in some fashion all the towns with the keynote event being a televised International Float Parade in Valetta featuring magnificent floats representing hundreds of hours of work by professional artisans. Many summer Carnivals will send performing companies to enliven the entertainment. It has been celebrated in Malta since at least the arrival of the Knights of St. John in 1535, but some studies even date the first carnival revelry back to the year 1470 and it is not a stretch to say this is the home of the world's old Carnival when you realize that Carnival is merely the most common name given to the festival all people celebrate when they mark the rebirth of life in the annual calendar
The 2nd City of Gozo, Nadur hosts 5 nights of spontaneous Carnival where your object is not to be identifiable but also to interact. Lots of full face rubber masks here but also many clever individual costumes. The palpable energy brings many back night after night for revelry.

MaltaMarathon.com Malta's largest annual running event

10 February    Feast of St. Pauls Shipwreck

19 March Feast of St. Joseph 31st March Freedom Day

MedFoodFest
MARCH: Maltese and Mediterranean gastronomy

Good Friday EASTER WEEK
The Good Friday pageant where Christ's passion and crucifixion are depicted by statues born aloft through the streets of Valletta and many other towns.  Last Supper Table Displays in the capital and in the outlying villages, including one in Zebbug made entirely of pasta.

Village Festival (festa) Season
The soul of the island can be best seen during the summer festas. Every village has a festa honoring the parish patron saint (some of the celebrations date back to the 1500s), and the weeklong merrymaking includes decorations, street processions, concerts, and a fireworks finale.

APRIL
Feast of St Publius in Floriana kicks off the  on the first Sunday after Easter. Every village annually honors its patron saint

FireworksFestival
weekend nearest MAY 1st
www.maltafestivals.com

 

MAY Feast Days Island of Malta

May 02 St Joseph Hamrun May 03 Holy Cross B'Kara May 09 Our Lady Of Liesse Valletta May 16 St Augustine Valletta May 22 St Rita Valletta May 23 The Annunciation Tarxien May 23 Our Lady Of Fatima G'Manga

29 June Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul
The "Imnarja" (a corruption of the Italian "luminara" - illumination), a harvest festival which is celebrated on June 29th, is characterized by a nightlong picnic at Buskett Gardens, Rabat, on the eve of which the native dish, stewed rabbit, is consumed in large quantities accompanied by equally large volume of wine. Exhibits of local produce, marching bands, decorated carts and folklore-singing competitions enliven the nightlong proceedings. The following day, the festivities reach a climax when bareback donkey and horse races are held in the streets leading to Rabat. The prizes for the winners of these races are the "palji" (brocaded banners), which the winners traditionally donate to their village church.

3rd weekend Valetta
maltajazzfest.com

• Re-enactment of a historical military parade. At Fort St. Elmo in Valletta.

21 September Malta Independence Day Malta attained its Independence in 1964.  

the Malta International Airshow Site
maltairshow.com

OCT-NOV: Gozo Festa -- the time of mists and mellow fruitfulness
mediterranea.com.m

 

OCTOBER FEAST DAYS Island of Malta

Oct 03 Our Lady Of The Rosary Gudja Oct 03 St Francis Of Assisi Sliema Oct 17 Our Lady Of Good Health Rabat

13 December Republic Day

25 December Christmas Day
During the Christmas holidays streets all over the islands are decorated with lights and many windows highlight the birth of the baby Jesus or other holiday themes. Bands play and march in Valletta every evening.
On Christmas Eve (24 December), boys parade through towns and villages with statues of the infant Saviour, and the 360 churches fill for Midnight Mass.