Maltese Festa Series X

The Maltese village festa is one of the country's most cherished traditions, combining deep religious devotion with a strong sense of community. Held annually in honour of each locality's patron saint, it brings together residents and visitors to celebrate their shared heritage. Throughout the week, solemn church ceremonies are complemented by colourful street decorations, lively band marches, spectacular fireworks, festive gatherings, and the joyful peal of church bells, creating an atmosphere unlike any other.

Birkirkara - Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Archives reveal scant details on the commissioning of this statue. However, it is known that during the tenure of Prior Fr Elizew of St Francis it had been decided that the statue should be produced in Lecce, Italy. Interestingly, a note discovered by Fr Martin Borg indicates that it made its first appearance in 1907.

Locality of Fleur-de-Lys - Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was cast in plaster and brought to Malta from Rome shortly after the church was opened in 1947.

GGozo - Statue of Christ the Eucharistic Saviour
This is the most recent titular statue created in Gozo. It was commissioned from artist Michael Camilleri Cauchi in 1980 and was blessed by bishop Nikol Cauchi on 19 September 1982. On that same day, the statue was brought over from the Basilica of Nadur. It was gilded by Horace Farrugia of Mdina.

Victoria, Gozo - Statue of the Immaculate Conception
The statue of the Immaculate Conception is an outstanding wooden masterpiece by the sculptor Salvu Psaila. Created in 1848, it is a truly artistic work, as the artist succeeded in expressing the Baroque style in its full splendour.

St Paul's Bay - Statue of St Paul
The titular statue of St Paul was sculpted in 1919 by the Qormi-born artist Karmnu Mallia, known as Il-Lhudi. It was commissioned and paid for by benefactors Tere¿a and Marjanna Pace. On 9 July 1919, the statue was blessed by the bishop of Malta, Maurus Caruana, in the oratory of Our Lady of Charity at the parish church of St Paul's Shipwreck in Valletta. The following day, it was solemnly transferred to the parish church of St Paul's Bay.

Sliema - Statue of St Dominic
The statue of St Dominic is a papier-mâché work by the renowned Gozitan statuary artist Michael Camilleri Cauchi. It was brought to the parish church on 10 July 1976.

Sliema - Statue of St Gregory
This statue was carved in wood in Brescia, Italy by the Italian sculptor Angelo Righetti and was gilded and was inaugurated on 19 May 1952, and carried in procession on the feast day, 25 May. An inscription in Greek on the back of the statue commemorates the name of its benefactor, Mr Alfred Vella. The statue depicts St Gregory as Pope.

KerGozo - Statue of St Gregory
In 1904, commemorative celebrations were held in Kerto mark the 13th centenary of the death of Pope St Gregory the Great. As a lasting memorial to the occasion, a devotional statue of St Gregory was commissioned. It was made in papier-mâché by Gallard et Fils of Marseille .

Ta' Xbiex - Statue of St John of the Cross
This statue is a papier-mâché work by the Gozitan statuary artist Alfred Camilleri Cauchi and completed in 1981. The Saint is depicted embracing a large cross, wearing a beret and holding an open book, symbolising his role as a Christian theologian and doctor.

Marsascala - Statue of St Anne
The statue is a wooden sculpture made in Bolzano Italy, by the firm of Ferdinando Stuflesser in 1946. It arrived in Malta in August 1946 and was transported to Marsaskala by barge. In 1948, the pedestal was made by the same firm, Ferdinando Stuflesser.