June 2020

Impossible to miss and entirely inescapable, the month of June boasts 16 traditional village festas. Spread across both Malta and Gozo, in reverence to a plethora of saints and deities, the June celebrations honour; San Ġorġ, Madonna of Lourdes, Corpus Christi and Saint John the Baptist – to name but a few.

As dusk falls, a cacophony of joyful sounds start to reverberate across the island, where no less than 4 festas are celebrated each weekend throughout the month. Every town naturally throws a spectacle to rival the next towns attempt, and in doing so outdoes their own performance from the previous year. All of the excitement takes place in the central village piazza, where you’ll find jovial parishioners, feast enthusiasts, extended families, their neighbours and friends sipping away on copious quantities of chilled local brew.

Attendees are fully decked out in their very best festa-worthy regalia, neatly ironed for the evening. Suddenly the marching band unleashes a years worth of rehearsals on the joyous crowd, who tap their feet and nod their head to the beat. Children yank their parents trouser-leg for a tooth-decaying whirl of candy floss, a plastic toy from one of the various street-stalls, or a scoop of ice-cream which invariably falls out of it’s cone. Whether you find yourself stationed in Qormi, Siggiewi, Qrendi or Zebbug, the Maltese summer-night skies ignite with explosive colour – as gun powder rockets skywards to the glee and cheer from the crowds below.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the well-trodden touristic hotspots – lies a magical Baroque-style Maltese stately home, in the prestigious village of Attard.

Built in 1745 when Malta was firmly in the hands of the Knights of St John, Villa Bologna remains till today a much-loved family home, with a wealth of history and tales from times gone by.

As a truly authentic way of bringing history to life, and on special arrangement lead by a family member, you can be privately guided around the palatial treasures that Villa Bologna holds so close to its heart. Begin in the specially commissioned audio-visual space in one of the villas main rooms to view a video of wartime Malta. From there, spend a few leisurely hours discovering the sprawling Mediterranean gardens, graced of course with water fountains and vegetable patches, where you’re offered refreshments along the way. Take a break from the sun and descend into the bomb shelter – urgently hewn out by pickaxe, yet elaborately finished off with opulent marble steps to please Lady Strickland during such tumultuous times. There is even a pottery shop located in the now-disused stables, where you can pick up your own hand crafted treasure to return home with – from this most memorable time spent at the villa. This visit will truly evoke a sense of connection to our awe and love of the past.