More women take part in feast processions

There has been a substantial increase in the number of women taking part in parish feast processions, according to data released yesterday by the National Statistics Office.

The number of lay persons participating last year stood at 7,474, an 8.4 per cent increase over 2003.

But although participation was predominantly male (65.6 per cent), the number of female participants increased by 21.4 per cent over 2003.

Expenditure on parish feasts in 2004 fell slightly from Lm631,075 in 2003 to Lm625,983.

However, this was still 3.2 per cent more than the Lm606,595 spent in 2002. The expenses calculated were only those of parish churches during the local feast.

Expenditure on feasts in Gozo stood at Lm149,026, or 23.8 per cent of the total recorded expenditure.

Of the Malta-related expenditure in 2004, Lm156,527 was spent in the southern harbour district, Lm142,390 in the northern harbour district and Lm69,272 in the south eastern district, followed by the western district with Lm55,793 and the northern district with Lm52,975.

Outdoor activities claimed the lion's share of expenditure last year during parish feasts, with Lm233,036, or 37.2 per cent of the total.

In 2004, the surveyed parish feasts registered a total income of Lm584,712, a 2.8 per cent drop over 2003. The bulk of this - 55.2 per cent - came from donations, followed by fund-raising activities, which generated 24.7 per cent of total income.

Gozo and Comino registered the highest income, followed by the southern and northern harbour districts.

There was a total of 331 band performances at parish feasts last year, and 86 performances were by bands from the same locality. The other performances were by bands from another town or village.

The total number of lay persons sitting on parish feast organising committees last year stood at 2,777 - 67 fewer than in 2003.

More than a third of the organisers were women with the female presence increasing marginally over 2003.

The highest participation in parish feasts organising committees was the southern harbour area with 1,012 participants - 105 members of religious orders and 907 lay persons. This district accounted for 31.9 per cent of all participants.