Follow the fireworks and join the locals to celebrate the feast of their patron saint in style, with boisterous brass bands, street decorations and a greasy pole!
St Bartholomew, Gharghur
Back in 1796, Maltese linguist Mikiel Anton Vassalli (a.k.a. the father of the Maltese language), described Gharghur as a “Bel Villaggio alla parte settentrionale di Malta” or a beautiful village in the northern part of Malta, in plain English. And that description holds true to this day. Situated atop Malta’s highest hill overlooking the eastern coast of Malta, Gharghur is also home to part of the 12km long Victoria Lines, which divide the island from East to West. The parish church dedicated to St Bartholomew (or San Bert as the locals call him) was originally built between 1610 and 1638, but its current Baroque facade is 'younger', having been reconstructed in 1743. The strong men who will be carrying the titular statue through the village streets during the festa procession on Sunday evening will have their work cut out, as the wood carved sculpture, made in Rome in 1666, is the second heaviest on the Maltese Islands.
As with all festas, brass band marches through the streets take place every evening during festa week, culminating with fireworks displays on the Friday and Saturday evenings usually starting after 9pm, with mechanised ground fireworks kicking off at around 11:30pm. The boisterous morning march is held on Sunday after morning High Mass, and the procession with the statue starts at around 6:30pm.
St Joseph, Manikata
Manikata is a tiny village on the outskirts of Mellieha with around 1,000 residents, the majority of whom are largely involved in farming. The village overlooks one of the most fertile valleys on the Maltese Islands, and is a centre for year-round production of seasonal agricultural produce. There are also many beekepers in the area. The church dedicated to St Joseph was designed by celebrated Maltese architect Richard England, who was inspired by the girna - a small stone building often seen in the middle of the fields used by farmers to store their tools and implements in. And if you're a Game of Thrones fan, you may have already seen Manikata on screen, as it was the location where the sack of the Lhazareen by the Dothraki was filmed in 2012.
Maria Regina, Marsa
The church dedicated to Maria Regina is Marsa’s second parish established just over 50 years ago, to take into account the growing population of this harbour town on the outskirts of Valletta. The church was built soon after World War II, on what was then the outskirts of the town, and was originally dedicated to Our Lady of Tears.
Conversion of St Paul, Safi
The small and ancient village of Safi in the south of Malta is still a relatively rural area, and has been a parish for exactly 420 years. Residents mainly work in agriculture, and in the past, it used to be home to several soldiers of the Standing Army known in Maltese as id-Dejma. Safi residents famously take the Monday after the feast as a day off and head up to Armier beach on Malta’s northern shore for their traditional xalata, like an afterparty by the sea. You might spot them making their rowdy way on private coaches and cars still in full celebratory mode!
St Julian, St Julian’s
The hub of Malta’s wining and dining district takes the entertainment factor up a notch this week as it too celebrates the feast of its patron saint, you guessed it, St Julian. And now you know why St Julian’s is called thus! The town has been a parish for just over 125 years, but the space-age style church perched on a hill overlooking the bay was only built in the 1950s. St Julian's has a very particular way of celebrating its patron saint - with a greasy pole. The gostra is a tradition that dates back to the 1800s, in which residents run up a 65-foot long lard-covered wooden pole perched over the water in a bid to grab one of the three flags at its tip.
St Dominic, Vittoriosa
The historic city of Vittoriosa (Birgu) dons its finest for the feast of St Dominic this week, celebrated from the church dedicated to the Annunciation which is attached to the Dominican convent. You will find it opposite the Inquisitor’s Palace. The present church was built in 1960 after the previous one, considered to have been a true architectural jewel, was destroyed in World War II.
Our Lady of Loreto, Ghajnsielem (Gozo)
The neo-gothic church on the crest of the hill of Ghajnsielem (meaning: peaceful spring) dominates the skyline of Gozo’s southern shore welcoming all visitors to the island as they disembark from the ferry in Mgarr. Construction on the church commenced in 1924, but it took over 50 years to be completed due to various interruptions.