{"id":22420,"date":"2021-05-28T02:18:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T02:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.visitmalta.com\/a\/annual-festivals\/"},"modified":"2021-05-28T02:18:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T02:18:53","slug":"annual-festivals","status":"publish","type":"a","link":"https:\/\/www.visitmalta.com\/en\/a\/annual-festivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Festivals & Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Annual Festivals & Traditions<\/h2>\n
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The Maltese Islands have a number of religious festivities and cultural events that take place every year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Feast days are the life of the Islands and some holy days are actually national holidays, such as the feast of <\/span>Santa Marija<\/span><\/strong> in mid-August. Others, such as the harvest festival of <\/span>Mnarja <\/span><\/strong>at the end of June, are steeped in folklore. However, the most important events to all villages are their individual <\/span>festas<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, honouring their parish patron saint.<\/span><\/p>\n

Religious holidays, such as Christmas<\/span><\/strong><\/a> and <\/span>Easter<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, are highly celebrated, with the traditional festivities that go along with them. As families tend to be quite close-knit, the holidays are a time to strengthen the sense of community as well as reinforce family bonds. Church services play a large role during this time of year and during the <\/span>Holy Week<\/span><\/strong> of Easter, many flock to the churches in great numbers for the‘seven visits’, the visit of seven churches, to pay homage to the Altars of Repose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The festive commemorations are also a time of food, drink and merriment which brings out the Mediterranean roots of the locals. Families prepare large <\/span>Christmas<\/span><\/strong>and <\/span>Easter<\/span><\/strong> lunches; giving thanks for all that they have with their relatives. During these festas the streets are lined with carts, selling a wide assortment of different foods<\/span><\/strong><\/a> as well as the more traditional sweets and delicacies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduced relatively recently, cultural events such as the <\/span>Malta Fireworks Festival<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, the <\/span>Malta International Arts Festival<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, <\/span>Notte Bianca<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>, the <\/span>Malta Jazz Festival<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong> , the Malta World Music Festival and <\/span>Mediterranea<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/strong>in Gozo are becoming traditions in their own right. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-22420","a","type-a","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnnual Festivals & Traditions - Visit Malta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Annual Festivals & Traditions - Visit Malta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Annual Festivals & Traditions The Maltese Islands have a number of religious festivities and cultural events that take place every year.  Feast days are the life of the Islands and some holy days are actually national holidays, such as the feast of Santa Marija in mid-August. 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