How to discover the cultural scene in Malta

No answers so far ... says a lot about the local culture scene 
People come to Malta mainly for the sun and the sea, they do not expect a lot from a nation of farmers and fishermen.

When you are walking through Valletta, you probably even won't realise, that it's the "2018 European Capital of Culture" https://valletta2018.org/

Listen to the bangs and follow the fireworks. It seems that every village has its own firework factory from which they compete as well as their fiestas for every community. They put a lot into them and can be quite fun. There is also an annual bread festival. They do make damn good bread and then, of course, there is the wine.

And not to forget the Farsons Beer Festival which lasts for one week! There's also some classical music, painting, poetry, handcrafted arts etc., but all those "skills" are imported and not well trained. Fireworks, hunting and beer - that's what Malta is good in!

Hi Priscilla

It would appear that the respondents to date don’t get out much. In our experience, there are simply not enough days in the year to experience all the cultural events that Malta has to offer, particularly during this V18 year.

To list a few:
The Baroque Festival, the Organ Festival, the Jazz Festival, the Spring Music Festival, the Malta International Arts Festival, the Valletta Film Festival, Three Palaces Festival, and many more. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is excellent and internationally renowned – it leaves next week to perform in Germany and Austria. The recent two-week long Malta International Music festival featured the Armenian State Orchestra with different soloists every night. The Manoel Theatre in Valletta is the oldest working theatre in Europe, and performances include music, dance and theatre.

I would refer you to the websites of St James Cavalier, Manoel Theatre, The Mediterranean Conference Centre, Eden Cinema and Visit Malta. (Most performances can be booked online.) As an example, St James Cavalier is a cultural centre in Valletta with a theatre as well as a cinema which screens art movies as well as live streamed opera from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, ballet from the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia, and theatre from the National Theatre in London. Eden Cinema’s cultural programme shown on their website has a list of art movies and live streamed shows from the Royal Opera House in London.

Throughout summer there are frequent performances at the brilliant open air Teatru Rjal.

Furthermore, there is a multiplicity of small organisations holding events all over the island, including a very active – and excellent – amateur dramatic society.

Valletta is a tiny city bursting with life – Friday night jazz evenings at the Bridge Bar are packed with people who enjoy good jazz. And there is always live music around Strait Street and Old Theatre Street.

The new National Museum of Art – MUZA – will open shortly, and even Victoria on tiny Gozo boast two opera houses.

A bonus to all this is that ticket prices for all events are very reasonable, and in some cases, there are concerts and films which are shown entirely free of charge. 

I could go on, but this isn’t the forum for an essay.

Last year we attended some outside entertainment including the Malta Philamonic Orchestra and the local bands and the Christmas celebrations and found all of them to be really good and free.  We look forward to attending more this year, considering the size of Gozo there is hardly a week without something on in either Victoria or one of the villages, unfortunately sometimes you do not hear about them until after the event.

That is the biggest problem in Gozo, you hear of most events the day after they have happened, when they are reported!

Ray