What’s on in Malta and Gozo this week: June 8 to 14, 2026

ARTS

Malta International Arts Festival

The Malta International Arts Festival returns between June 12 and 21 with a diverse programme of theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, and visual arts, unfolding across various heritage sites in Valletta and Floriana, and beyond.

For the first time, the event will include sand sculptures at the Valletta Campus Theatre, Pretty Bay, Birżebbuġa, and Dock No. 1, Cospicua.

For all the details, visit festivals.mt/miaf. Tickets from www.ticketline.com.mt/.

Victoria International Arts Festival

The month-long Victoria International Arts Festival opens with the concert The Gozo Miracle at the Astra Theatre, Victoria, on June 12 at 8pm.

The star performer of the show is Simon Schembri, who will join the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Philip Walsh, in a programme of Spanish/Latin American numbers.

Entrance is free but reservations are recommended by sending an e-mail to info@viaf.org.mt.

The event will be followed on June 13 with a pianoforte quintet, featuring Florian Mühlberger (clarinet), Anne Harvey-Nagl (violin), Laeticia Lermer (viola), Franziska Lermer (violoncello) and Biliana Tzinlikova (piano). They will play music by Weingartner, Haydn, Bruch, Beethoven and Piazzolla at the Aula Mgr G. Farrugia, Victoria, at 8pm. Entrance is free.

For all the festival’s details, visit viaf.org.mt.

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MUSIC

Jazz Bridges

Italian saxophonist Jossy Botte will play alongside the Angela Vella Zarb Quartet at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on June 9 at 8pm. 

The repertoire includes jazz standards and contemporary compositions, celebrating the meeting of Italian and Maltese musical influences.

Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt.

Bach, Mozart & Kreisler

World-renowned virtuosos Carmine Lauri and Hansjörg Schellenberger are joining the De Valette Chamber Orchestra for its final concert for the 2025/2026 season at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on June 12 at 8pm.

The programme opens with Mozart’s youthful Symphony in E-flat major, followed by Schellenberger’s performance of the Oboe Concerto in C major. Lauri takes the spotlight in Fritz Kreisler’s Violin Concerto in C major, In the Style of Vivaldi, a brilliant homage to the baroque, showcasing his radiant tone and technique.

The evening concludes with Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A major, a graceful work that captures the spirit of classical brilliance. 

Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt.

90s Gold

The Orkestra Żurrieq will perform a selection of music from the 1990s at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta, on June 12 at 8.30pm.

Tickets from ticketline.com.mt.

MPO Chamber Concert

The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in an intimate morning of chamber music at Robert Samut Hall, Floriana, on June 14 at 11am. 

The programme features two towering masterpieces for clarinet and strings: Robert Mozart’s Quintet in A major and Johannes Brahms’s Quintet in B minor.

Tickets from showshappening.com.

Guitar Classics

Maltese guitarist Karol Aquilina will perform a selection of classical and flamenco works at the Secret Garden, Attard, on June 14 at 8pm. 

Aquilina’s artistry is shaped by a rich musical heritage spanning three generations of guitarists. His playing blends technical mastery with deep emotional insight. 

Tickets from showshappening.com.

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FILM

Exhibition On Screen: Frida Kahlo

Exhibition on Screen’s award-winning film – first released during COVID to a restricted audience – is back by popular demand with a new addition from the curators of the blockbuster transatlantic exhibition from Tate Modern and MFA Houston: Frida Kahlo: the Making of an Icon. 

The film, certified PG, is being screened at Spazju Kreattiv on June 10, at 7.30pm, again on July 1 at 7.30pm and July 11 at 5.30pm.

Tickets from spazjukreattiv.org.

MET Live in HD: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego

On June 14, Spazju Kreattiv is screening an encore of US composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz.

Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love story, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Frank’s opera, while the production is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker.

The screening, which has English subtitles, is certified 12+ and starts at 6pm. Tickets from spazjukreattiv.org.

Read more about this opera on Times2.

MISCELLANEOUS

Djalogi

Spazju Kreattiv is hosting the third edition of Djalogi, a series of encounters with emerging and established writers, on June 9 at 7pm.

Kurt Borg will be interviewing Noah Fabri.

The event is free of charge.

Chinese Ambassador Cup: China-Malta Dragon Boat Friendship Race 2026

The China Cultural Centre in Malta is hosting the Chinese Ambassador Cup – China-Malta Dragon Boat Friendship Race 2026 starting from the Birgu Regatta Club on June 13, from 10am.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to taste traditional zongzi, enjoy lion dance and drum performances, and celebrate friendship, culture and exchange between China and Malta.

European Archaeology Days 2026

European Archaeology Days 2026 is taking place from June 12 to 14, with hundreds of activities being held across Malta and Gozo. Coordinated by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the weekend features open-air digs, curator tours and underwater virtual dives to celebrate the region’s ancient history.

Among the highlights are guided curatorial tours to discover the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta; after-hours torchlight tours at Tarxien Prehistoric Complex; an underwater open day featuring snorkelling and 360-degree virtual tours at Salina Bay; and deepwater archaeology lectures.

Check the complete programming and free lecture registrations on https:// schmalta.mt/european-archaeology-days-2026-maltas-past-explored-above-and-below-ground/.

Tickets for the other events are available online at www.heritagemalta.mt/store and at all Heritage Malta museums and sites.

Gabriel Iglesias: The 1976 Tour − Live in Malta

Comedy superstar Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias has added Malta to his EU tour, and will be performing at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre, in Attard, on June 14 at 8pm.

Recognised as one of the world’s most successful stand-up comedians, Fluffy is known for his high-energy storytelling, unforgettable characters and record-breaking sold-out shows around the globe.

The show is certified 12+ (accompanied by an adult ticket holder). Last remaining tickets from showshapppening.com

whatson@timesofmalta.com