Summer is here in the Maltese islands and that can only mean one thing: it is festa season! Maltese festas or village feasts are days of celebration where villages celebrate their patron saints in a weekly street party.
Practically every week of summer has a different Maltese festa happening around the island. 
There is no better way to experience local culture and history than by attending a festa! Expect to experience a day of street parades, processions, great things to eat and drink and fireworks!
Five to six days before the village feast, the town is decorated with flags, banners, lights and statues along with the first band march. This is a great time to visit any of the villages which are leading up to a festa.
On the day of the festa, the party really gets started with a morning band march and street party. The day continues with a carnival-like atmosphere. In the evening, the procession begins where the patron saint of the village is carried out of the Church and then returned back inside.
This is often followed by another parade from the marching band along with confetti being thrown from every rooftop and window. The night is capped with a firework display. For the best fireworks in all of Malta, visit Lija for their August feast and Mqabba for their mid-August feast.
Deep-fried doughnuts and pastries called Imqaret are popular treats at the village festas, along with the traditional pastizzi!
One of the biggest feasts in the Maltese islands is The Assumption of Our Lady on August 15th. This weeklong feast takes place in different villages including: Mqabba, Qrendi, Mosta, Gudja, Attard, Għaxaq, Victoria (Gozo), Birkirara and Żebbuġ.
Here is the schedule of Maltese festas for 2019:
July 2019
- July 14th: Kirkop – St. Joseph
- July 14th: Gżira & Fgura – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- July 14th: Balzan – The Annunciation
- July 14th: Kerċem – Our Lady of Relief
- July 14th: Qormi – St. Sebastian
- July 16th: Valletta – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- July 21st: Kalkara – St. Joseph
- July 21st: Tarxien – Our Lady of Holy Doctrine
- July 21st: Victoria – St. George Martyr
- July 21st: Żurrieq – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- July 21st: Msida – St. Joseph
- July 28th: Sannat – St. Margaret
- July 28th: Balluta – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- July 28th: Marsaskala – St. Anne
- July 28th: St. Paul’s Bay – Our Lady of Sorrows
- July 28th: Paola – Christ the King
- July 28th: Santa Venera – St. Venera
- July 28th: Żebbuġ – St. Joseph
August 2019
- August 4th: Marsaxlokk – Our Lady of Pompei
- August 4th: Birżebbuġa – St. Peter in Chains
- August 4th: San Ġwann – Our Lady of Lourdes
- August 4th: Qala – St. Joseph
- August 5th: Valletta – St. Dominic
- August 6th: Lija – Christ Our Saviour
- August 10th: Birgu – St. Lawrence
- August 11th: San Lawrenz – St. Lawrence
- August 11th: Hamrun – San Gaetan
- August 15th: Multiple Locations – The Assumption of Our Lady
- August 18th: Mġarr & Dingli – The Assumption of Our Lady
- August 18th: Sliema – Our Lady Star of the Sea
- August 18th: Paola – Our Lady of Lourdes
- August 18th: Birkirkara – St. Helen of Constantinople
- August 21st: Santa Luċija – St. Pius X
- August 25th: Żebbuġ – The Assumption of Our Lady
- August 25th: Kirkop – St. Leonard
- August 25th: Birgu (Vittoriosa) – St. Dominic
- August 25th: Għargħur – St. Bartholomew
- August 25th: Manikata – St. Joseph
- August 25th: Marsa – Maria Regina
- August 25th: Safi – Conversion of St. Paul
- August 25th: St. Julian’s – St. Julian
September 2019
- September 1st: Għajnsielem – Our Lady of Loreto
- September 1st: Żurrieq – St. Catherine
- September 1st: Sliema – St. Gregory the Great
- September 1st: Qawra – St. Francis of Assisi
- September 1st: Valletta – Our Lady of Consolation
- September 8th: Multiple Locations – The Nativity of Our Lady
- September 15th: Żabbar – Our Lady of Graces
- September 22nd: Valletta – St. Augustine
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