Festa season is in full swing. Join in the celebrations at one of these four villages. Expect exuberant band marches, decorated churches and fireworks, lots of fireworks.
St Joseph, Kalkara
This small picturesque seaside town just outside the famous Three Cities is a delight to visit on any day, and not just because it's home to Esplora Interactive Science Centre at Bighi Royal Naval Hospital and a historic 100-ton gun at Fort Rinella. This week it goes into charm overdrive to celebrate the feast of its patron saint. Head down on Thursday 12th July for the spectacular mechanised ground fireworks after the evening brass band march (8pm to 11:30pm) and make sure you pop inside to visit the splendidly adorned church built after the original 19th century one was flattened in World War II. The new church was built by the residents themselves, including women and children who saw it as a symbol of rebuilding their community after the war. Today it is one of the most beautiful post-war churches in Malta. The main festivities with the gilded statue of St Joseph continue over the weekend.
Our Lady of Holy Doctrine, Tarxien
Some towns celebrate more than one festa in their parish. This is Tarxien’s second celebration after the titular feast of the Annunciation which was held at the beginning of June. The town is of course renowned for its prehistoric temples which date back to 3600BC, but the parish church and the feasts of the town’s patron saints are key element of Tarxien’s culture. One elderly resident recalled how as a child, she would look forward to the Annunciation feast to wear a new dress and then she would look forward to the second feast in July to wear the previous year’s “best dress”. This feast has possibly one of the most delightful and touchingly beautiful statues of all featuring Our Lady, richly dressed complete with earrings, looking benignly down at three children kneeling at her feet.
St Sebastian, Qormi
While some towns may have two feasts celebrated out of the same parish church, larger towns have more than one parish church, each with its own titular feast. And yes, it gets competitive. The modern church of St Sebastian, completed in the 1980s, dominates the skyline of Qormi with its huge dome and four spires. It boasts eight bells, two for the clock and six for festa celebrations. This side of the town goes green for the festa, the colour of the band club organising the external celebrations, and they sure know how to throw a party in honour of their much loved patron saint!
St George Martyr, Victoria (Gozo)
The capital of Malta’s sister island, Gozo, celebrates the first of its two parish feasts in grand style with a week of festivities and events featuring daily brass band marches, concerts, spectacular fireworks and traditional horse-races through the streets of Victoria. The feast centres around the magnificent Basilica of St George which was completed in 1678. Celebrations kick off on Monday 9th July at 7pm with horses races along Republic Street in Victoria. This tradition dates back centuries when many parish feasts featured horse races as part of their festa. Stay up late on Tuesday 10th July for the mechanised ground fireworks show in St Francis Square starting at 11:30pm. And it’s another late night on Wednesday, when that evening’s band march ends in St Georges Square with a flame spectacle at midnight. Thursday’s band march concludes with an audio-visual presentation at Sabina Square, while Friday’s band march ends at It-Tokk. Saturday culminates with a spectacular fireworks display synchronised to music starting at 10pm in Republic Street. The big day, Sunday, starts with a very exuberant morning band march at 11am, which goes on till 3pm ending with a paper fireworks display synchronised to music. The solemn procession with the 277-year old statue of St George starts at 7pm and is a must see!