Malta’s Fireworks – The Celebration of Life
Malta’s Fireworks – the way I see it – is the celebration of life very unique to the Maltese nation and character of its people.
Last week on Monday the 1st of July Malta officially opened its airport for EU tourists. And in order to celebrate it, unprecedentedly, the firework displays happened all over the island. It is definitely not unprecedented that you will see firework displays in Malta in the summer as this is centuries-long Maltese tradition. Yet on this day, the show happened simultaneously across the 21 localities in Malta and Gozo.
Let me first give you a bit of a background on Malta’s fireworks and festa tradition.
Throughout the whole summer season, normally from May to October, Malta holds around 100 feasts across all towns and villages. The feast is dedicated to the specific Saint Patron of the village. Churches and streets get decorated, there are food and drink stalls, band marches and to top it up – a fireworks display. A lot of money and effort is put into each event every year and Malta has some of the biggest numbers of small fireworks factories per capita, given the size and population of the county.
Many of the workers are actually volunteers and often skills are passed thrugh the generations. In fact, I must admit I was in owe to see how beautiful those displays are. Maltese fireworks factories have gained a global reputation for their creativity, and regularly win awards at international festivals and competitions. Which does not surprise me at all! And, the interesting fact is that those shows are actually crowdfunded. Every household or business in the town traditionally contributes towards the funding needed for the fireworks.
Villages actually compete against each other and this probably fuels creativity and passion.
All this happens during feast of each village and it is really worth seeing one during your stay in Malta. In fact, Malta’s summer event calendar is extremely busy and full of incredible events going all the way to the autumn months. With Birgu Festival of Lights, Mosta Festa, Notte Bianca Festival in Valetta – just to mention few, there is always an event to attend during the summer. Maltese are known for their love of celebration and any opportunity is good enough to have fun and enjoy life. Find all the upcoming events here.
Yet this year all the festas were put on hold due to the pandemic. So it came as no surprise that once the airport has reopened for the commercial flights – Malta celebrated with the bang. And we all did in fact. The massive appreciation for how lucky we all are, here on the tiny island country, in comparison to some struggling countries around the world.
The feeling that life slowly comes back to normal, or at least the new normal as we experience it now – was probably well expressed by this fiery show. And no one really can predict what the future holds for all of us but let’s hope that this celebration of freedom and life indicates a better future.