Share and mingle:

Monday, 20 August from 4pm: Night Market #2 – Funky Monkey, Gzira; Wednesday, 22 August: Vegan Menu Launch at U&Co - U&Co Social Café, Pendergardens, St Julian’s

A spate of lazy beach days, dinner dates and night caps peppered your Santa Maria week – so many that when you look back, you can barely remember what came first, the memories dissolving like Berocca in a glass of water after a late night. Tonight look ahead to the second night market being organised by Funky Monkey in Gzira: stalls selling eclectic wares and colourful goods will jostle for attention with the vibrant Thai food courtesy of beer-bar-turned-Thai-eatery, Good Thaimes Kitchen. And all played against the jamming of Musical Playground. Move to new joint U&Co Social Café in Pendergardens for the launch of their vegan menu on Wednesday: more chat and vegan wine is assured. 

Spritz and music?:

Wednesday, 22 August from 6pm: Crush Wednesdays – Surfside, Sliema; Thursday, 23 August from 6pm: 1926 Thursdays - 1926 Beach Club, Sliema

Will the weather rain out any beachside plans? Perhaps. But, let’s hope we’re able to order a spritz by the sea without being inundated – quite literally! Keep your met report constantly updated and pinned on your phone to see if you’re able to make it down to Surfside on Wednesday for their mid-week showdown, or to 1926 Beach Club on Thursday. 

Story and myth:

Thursday, 23 August – Sunday, 26 August from 7pm: Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival 2018 - Fort Manoel, Manoel Island, Gzira

On a few warm summer evenings last year, Fort St Elmo echoed with the sound of poetry readings, music from the Mediterranean region and the happy chatter of an eclectic gathering of word-lovers, scribes and cultural enthusiasts. These were evenings cloaked by the stars and characterized by the scent of cuisine originating from the four corners of this sea. And there promises to be more of this stupendous same this year. The festival line-up is immense - Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan will be reading some of her work and will be interviewed by Nadia Mifsud on Saturday. But, start your weekend early on Thursday with readings by Caldon Mercieca (Malta), Juana Adcock (Mexico/UK) and Sjón (Iceland), as well as the screening of a short film directed by Kenneth Scicluna, based on a poem by Clare Azzopardi. And, it will all take place at Fort Manoel – a change in location, which is no less stunning than the previous. 

Tuesday, 21 August from 8:30pm: The Red Turtle – Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite, Golden Bay, Manikata

A sailor shipwrecked on a tropical deserted island? A red turtle which changes his life?  This is just the basic premise of this animated, no dialogue film which won the Un Certain Regard Special Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and which is being screened on Tuesday as part of Solar Cinema. But, The Red Turtle is so much more than the sum of its parts. Created by the world-renowned Studio Ghibli, this fable, according to Mark Kermode at The Guardian, “boasts a sublime simplicity that unifies its complex elements into a singular, universal voice”; by turns “eloquent, profound and moving”, it will leave you with “a head dizzy with dreamy visions and cheeks wet from tears that rolled like waves on a distant beach.”