No fireworks will light up the sky over Valletta as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve this year as the tourism ministry has decided to sponsor a display in Mellieħa instead.

The decision has raised questions because Mellieħa is part of the electoral district represented by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, who is also from the area.

Up until last year, the Valletta Cultural Agency (VCA), which organises New Year’s Eve celebrations, received funding from the tourism ministry through the Malta Tourism Authority to host the fireworks display.

VCA chair Jason Micallef said that, this year, the ministry informed him that it could not sponsor the display because funds were exhausted. However, it was later announced that the ministry was sponsoring an almost identical display in Mellieħa.

“I am very disappointed because the fireworks display had become an annual part of a massive event that was attracting international attention,” Micallef said.

“Every major capital city in the world ushers in the new year with fireworks, after all and Malta had found its place among them,” he added.

Jason Micallef, centre, announcing the New Year's Eve celebrations earlier this month. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

For the bigger part of the last decade, most of the island’s New Year’s Eve celebrations have been concentrated in Valletta, with open air concerts and music events starting early in the night and culminating in a countdown to midnight that ended with a fireworks display over the Grand Harbour, ushering in the New Year.

The celebrations became increasingly popular from 2014, at times attracting some 50,000 to the capital.

A fireworks display over Grand Harbour was added in 2018, beginning a tradition that was not even stifled by the virus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

While Valletta still plans to usher in the New Year in a grand way, visitors who want to see some fireworks will have to travel to Mellieħa.

A video posted to Facebook last week by the Mellieħa local council suggests that the initiative was aimed at boosting business for the relatively quiet northern region.

“I look forward to another successful year during which we will strive to see that tourism truly benefits everyone,” Bartolo says in the video.

Mellieħa fireworks secretary Trevor Vella said that the initiative should boost commercial activity in the locality and mayor Dario Vella urged people to spend New Year’s eve in Mellieħa this year.

The nine-minute display synchronised with music has been entrusted to Mellieħa’s Marija Bambina fireworks organisation.

It kicks off at midnight on Saturday.

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo. His ministry has found funding for fireworks in his hometown, but none for Valletta's Grand Harbour.

A spokesperson for the tourism ministry said that the Valletta Cultural Agency had been advised “well in time” that sponsorship for the fireworks this year was “not possible”.

“This decision has absolutely nothing to do with any other celebration that is being assisted in other localities around Malta,” the spokesperson said.