Zurrieq's Record Breaking Fireworks

If you've read our blog about Maltese Village Festas, you will know about all the preparation that goes on behind the scenes in the run up to the festa and how proud villagers are of their local village feast. You will also know how one of the most important aspects of the village feast are the fireworks.

 Well, last weekend the southern village of Zurrieq celebrated the feast of St. Catherine, and they really outdid themselves when it came to the fireworks display. All the fireworks which were left off were beautiful, however the highlight came at the end of the display on Saturday night. During the end of the fireworks display, a petard known amongst local fireworks enthusiasts as the "ballun tal-blalen", which translates to the "ball of balls", was let off over the village.

 The creators of this petard were aiming to secure a place in the local record books for the largest fireworks ball in Malta. The petard weighed 260kg, and was 2.97 metres wide and was created by Manwel Gauci and his team from the Santa Katerina V.M. Fireworks Club of Zurrieq. Sure enough, the Malta Records confirmed that the petard broke the record, and presented Manwel Gauci with a certificate after the procession on Sunday evening.

 If you'd like to see the full display from Saturday, here's a video link uploaded to YouTube by Jason Muscat, who also has some amazing videos from fireworks displays from other village feasts.


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