United Travel Malta

V alletta, together with Leeuwarden (Netherlands), will be the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Valletta's year officially opens on the 20th January 2018 with an official ceremony.  Valletta's title is an award which will be shared amongst all localities in Malta & Gozo. This decision, supported by all of the 68 localities in Malta, was taken in order to ensure that the positive effects of the title would be spread as widely as possible.  With around 400 events across 365 days, Jason Micallef, Chairman of the Valletta 2018 Foundation, promises that next year will include " the most cultural activity and related celebrations since Malta's independence." Since local traditions are known for their passion, exuberance and flair, the organising committee decided to celebrate our European Capital of Culture year through the best festive language we know - that of the traditional  Maltese Festa .  The  chosen themes  are island stories,...

In our previous blog post, we recommended visiting a Maltese Village Festa during the summer months. We thought that we would publish a blog post that features the Village Festa, and all they have to offer. In Malta the "Festa Season" starts from the end of May and goes on throughout the Summer months until the end of September. There are a few exceptions of feasts that take place earlier or later on in the year, for example the feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck that takes place on the 10th February every year. Every village has at least one patron saint, with some even having two or three, and it is these patron saints that are celebrated during these feasts. A village feast takes place over an extended weekend, and each feast has it's own annual allocated weekend. In the week before the feast, the respective village will decorate the streets with statues raised on wooden columns, as well as with festoons and banners, all dedicated to their patron saints. The p...