Christ Our Saviour, Lija - 6th August

The residential town of Lija just next door to Naxxar is famous for its annual fireworks spectacle in honour of its parish feast. All local towns push the boat out when it comes to celebrating their parish saint, showering him or her and the rest of the island with fireworks. But Lija’s pyrotechnics display, produced by St Michael's Fireworks Factory, stands out as one of Malta’s finest, with thousands flocking to see the two-hour long show on the eve of the feast from 9:30pm.  

St Lawrence, Vittoriosa - 10th August

This festa is celebrated in probably one of the most historic of Malta’s churches. A church on this site dedicated to San Lorenzo a Mare was already recorded back in 1436 in an inventory of 12 established chapels on the Maltese Islands (there are around 400 today!) When the Knights of St John first arrived in Malta in 1530, all their langues (administrative divisions) were based in Vittoriosa, so the church of St Lawrence served as their first conventual church until they moved across Grand Harbour to the new city of Valletta. The present building was constructed between 1681 and 1696, and part of it was reconstructed after World War II.

Make sure you take a look inside the church to see the altar piece by Mattia Preti and other works of art by Stefano Erardi. A double-bill of pyrotechnics is held on 9th August starting at 9:30pm, with La Notte di San Lorenzo fireworks show synchronised to music, followed by a second display entitled From Broadway to Grand Harbour, featuring tunes from popular musicals.The fireworks will be visible across the Grand Harbour, but the best places to see the show are near Vittoriosa Regatta or near Esplora Interactive Science Centre in Kalkara. At 11:30pm, head over to the church square for the mechanised ground fireworks show. The procession with the titular statue on 10th August starts at 7pm.

St Gaetan, Hamrun - 12th August

One of the many traditional events during the village festa celebrations is the morning march, a boisterous brass band march through the streets of the town held on the morning of the feast. Parishioners typically let their hair down during this march with plenty of loud singing and merry-making in what is basically a street party. But of all the morning marches of all the summer festi, the one held in honour of St Gaetan in the town of Hamrun is probably THE signature event, not least because of the fierce rivalry between the two band clubs of the town, which makes the whole celebration all the more exciting. So head down to Hamrun on the morning of 12th August, between 9:30am and 3pm and prepare to be transported, quite literally, by a heaving throng of deliriously happy people. The crowd sobers up (a bit) for the evening procession with the titular statue of St Gaetan, and they will all be praying that there will be no repeat of the unfortunate incident back in 2013 when the statue was almost dropped! 

St Lawrence, San Lawrenz, Gozo - 12th August

Another festa dedicated to St Lawrence is celebrated in the eponymous village on Malta’s sister island of Gozo. The foundation stone of the parish church was laid in 1886 with a relic of the saint placed beneath it, and the construction involved every single resident of the village. The tiny rural village has a population of barely 750 people, but you can be sure they will turn out in force to celebrate their patron saint and village namesake in style.