English: Street decoration setup to celebrate the village feast. What can Various elaborately designed street banners are set up in various villages celebrating the village feast. This particular beautiful decoration has been shot at Birgu.

Religious feasts or ‘festas’ are an important part of Maltese culture and tradition held throughout the year across both Malta and Gozo. Festas are both religious and profane, being organized by the local parish together with local band clubs, and are an iconic part of the Maltese summer with church ceremonies, massive firework displays, processions with marching bands and great revelry. Devotional church services include nine-day novenas to the saint, asking for blessings andprotection. The ceremonial highlight of any festa is the carrying of the statue of the parish saint. Festa devotees bid for the privilege of hoisting the statue out of the church and onto a prominent place in the village square, paying big money for the honour and privilege of carrying the statue. All monies raised go to a charity or to defer some of the expenses incurred in the celebration of the Festa.The crowd-pullers are however the fireworks displays, the culmination of the evening lighting up the night sky to the sound of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the crowd. Malta is well known for its pyrotechnic ability, showcased at the village feast where villages vie with each other for the most colourful and noisiest fireworks.

Lively and colourful, festi are a much-awaited occasion in the village’s social and religious calendar of great community importance.In Malta and Gozo, the village church is the pride of each villager. Inside the church, a bevy of activity takes place. Walls are hung with red damask, the silverware is brought out and polished and the crystal chandeliers are cleaned to a sparkle. The statue of the parish patron saint which occupies a niche in the church is decorated and displayed.

Flags are flown from rooftops and statues are placed all around the village, banners are hung out, and coloured lights are strung across roads. It is really the most beautiful time to visit a villages, when everything comes alive with celebrations.