Another year, another festival showcasing some cool talent! The Malta International Arts Festival (MIAF), produced by Festivals Malta, has just launched the highly anticipated programme for its 2019 edition taking place between 28^th June and 14^th July.

The 14^th edition of the MIAF

This year’s edition of the festival will once again showcase an impressive mixture of local and international talent in different venues, encouraging wider audiences to join in the island-wide celebration of artistic innovation and cultural heritage.

“The 2019 programme of this unique festival will present innovative productions with a strong interdisciplinary dimension that are accessible to a wide audience,” says Ruben Zahra, artistic director of the MIAF 2019. “Accessibility is at the heart of the MIAF.”

The incredible performances you can witness this year

The festival will be adding cutting-edge performances from international companies to the mix, including:

1 Toujours et Pres de Moi? – a captivating holographic music-theatre performance by Opera Erratica (UK).

2 Berberio – an award-winning children’s performance by Zonzo Compagnie (Belgium) about the musical language of Italian avant-garde composer Lucian Berio.

3 FLA.CO.MEN – a mesmerising flamenco reinvention by Spanish dance artist Israel Galvan.

The festival will also showcase the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in a symphonic programmed that includes Tan Dun’s hypnotic three-movement Water Concerto, as well as a double-bill dance programmed by Malta’s national dance company ZfinMalta and Pope Joan, a theatrical work co-produced with Teatru Malta among other local creative talent.

Heritage sites will be an important characteristic in this year’s programme, showcasing Malta’s cultural legacy. A number of performances will take place in various historical locations around the island. Pope Joan will take place at the Mdina ditch, Hagar Qim will become the backdrop and stage of two productions within the festival: Temple Percussion, featuring Chinese percussionist Beibei with a virtuso recital of contemporary works, and GUTHAN AOSDA – Ancient Voices.

The grand performances

The opening weekend of the MIAF 2019 will incorporate a unique sunset-tour performance across the Grand harbour, titled Harbour Odyssey, which will feature musicians, actors, acrobats and circus-artists.

The festival will also be transforming the island’s surrounding sea into a floating stage, for numerous events taking place on a Turkish gullet. In keeping with the theme of ‘water’ that runs through the whole festival, the grand finale of the MIAF will present a stunning underwater concert from Denmark, Aquasonic, consisting of five musicians and singers using custom-made instruments submerged in water tanks. Now THAT’S cool.

To view the full programme, head to the Malta International Arts Festival 2019’s website.