The fifteenth of August is a public holiday, the feast of the Assumption, and the busiest single day in the Maltese calendar.
Here it is called Santa Marija.
Eight parishes on the same night
Mosta, Mqabba, Qrendi, Attard, Gudja, Ħal Għaxaq, St Mary’s in Birkirkara and Victoria in Gozo all hold their feast on the same date.
Eight sets of street decorations, eight bands and eight fireworks programmes in one night.
You cannot see more than two. Pick a village, get there in the evening and stay put.
Mqabba and Mosta draw the biggest crowds. Gudja and Għaxaq are smaller and easier to walk into late.
The Santa Marija convoy
The date carries a second meaning. In August 1942 Malta was close to being starved out.
The convoy that saved it arrived over several days. Five of the fourteen merchant ships that set out got through.
The tanker Ohio was towed into the Grand Harbour on 15 August, half sunk and lashed between two destroyers.
People still call it the Santa Marija convoy. The date it arrived gave it the name.
What is shut on 15 August
Banks, government offices and most shops. Supermarkets in the tourist towns usually open, village shops usually do not.
Buses run a Sunday and public holiday timetable, which means fewer of them and longer waits.
Museums and heritage sites keep normal hours. Restaurants open and fill up, so book if you want a table in the evening.
If you are driving
Park well outside the village and walk in.
Every street near the church will be closed or full. The roads are shut from the afternoon and they stay shut past midnight.
The fireworks bring people in from other towns, so the queue to get out again after the last barrage is long.
How the night runs
- Early evening. Band clubs march, the streets fill, the food stalls open.
- Around 19:00–20:00. The statue is carried out of the church and around the parish.
- Late. The main fireworks display, usually after 23:00.
It is hot. Mid-August is the peak of the Maltese summer and the crowds are dense in narrow streets.
Take water and do not plan an early start the next morning.
