There are these celebrations going on…
It is Religious Feast time on Malta!
Up and down the three main streets, and then down the couple of main cross streets that surround St. John’s Square and Cathedral, it is all decorated with hanging tapestries and green ribbons and bows and lights.
There are these faux marble statues along the streets, some serving as light standards, some as just statues, all wonderfully colorful.
The statues are of every saint, Mary in various stages of life including the heretofore unseen “Young, Vivacious Disco Mary” every pope and then some other people.
I particularly liked the one of the girl holding a guy's head. She looks like she is saying, "Hey, look what I got!"
Then, at night, they use the colored fireworks, but shoot them by the cathedral which is crammed back in the neighborhood, so you can hardly see them.
But here is the funny part: no one we talk to knows which saint they are celebrating. All they know is that it is an excuse to party, decorate, and “It gets really old, really annoying… every week, all summer long some village on the island is having their festival… these hangings look like old carpets that should have been thrown out years ago…” That is a mix of the old and young residents’ opinions.
And if you check out this link here, which is a list of the festivals going on here all year long, it is no wonder that there is a general sort of Festival Burnout going on.
All the same, for us the Casual Tourist who doesn’t have to live here: It is colorful! It is loud! It is festive! Let’s PARTY!
So, on Tuesday night, a full two days before the celebration on the 16th of July, we ran right into the middle of the “Carry Mary Through The Streets” parade. It was spectacular with all the lights and the now colored fireworks overhead, the music and the ticker tape.
We saw this last year in Nerja, Spain. That celebration was more sober, this one is louder, with smaller crowds, and has a lot of drinking and informality involved. And tons of ticker tape and confetti. For a city as neat and orderly as Valletta, it must be satisfying to be allowed to just trash the streets, dumping bags and bags of paper off your balcony.
And, a true miracle! We found one person in the crowd who actually knew what they were celebrating.
It is Our Lady Of Mount Carmel.
I googled it: that is a legit thing. So there it is.
"You know tonight's parade? This is the practice. Thursday is the BIG statue, and we go all through Valletta, at 19:00."
Wednesday morning, the 15th of July, 8:00 - they are shooting off the cannons that line the battery just outside out window. As the booms echo across the harbor, they are answered by fireworks popping. The church bells toll, just one bell, over and over.
Wednesday as we walked to breakfast, the band was already out playing in the street, the same marching songs from yesterday. Then, after dinner, we could hear them playing again down a side street.
More and more banners and flags are going up. Just when the gaudy factor is at its maximum, they add even more.
The actual feast day itself.
The fireworks are just continual, and now they are adding the cannons. It sounds like a war at 8AM.
Kind of cool, actually. I mean, as long as no one gets hurt.
On our way to breakfast we run into the band again, and I wonder if they ever get any rest?
When we return to Valletta after being out all day, we head straight to our room to shower and cool off. Fireworks are exploding, it is 20:00 before we even set out for dinner, and we figure we have missed the celebration.
Not so.
We stumble right into the middle of the parade. Sure enough, this Mary is bigger, golden, more regal.
They walk slowly to the thunderous crash of the bells, and no one is drinking beer today. The church leaders all walk slowly, carrying crosses, candles, silver things with smoke, chalices, and fans and all sorts of stuff. One guy has two people holding up is robe for him.
Then, the woman of the hour comes slowly into view, carried by ten or more stumbling men.
No band playing, just the bells thundering. She is carried to the front of the great St. John's Co-Cathedral, set up on the front steps, and there is great applause as a choir starts in singing with the bells. It is deafening.
Eventually it grows quiet, and someone makes a long incantation of spells in Latin.
Another song, the bells start up again, and just as I think she is going to go back into the church to rest up for next year...
No!
She sets off slowly, down the street, to the next cathedral.
This is going to be a long night.
So we head out to dinner (It is past 21:00 now) rather than follow the parade.
Late that night she must have gotten home safely, as there is a great thunderous roar of fireworks.