The feast of St Peter and St Paul - Mnarja - was celebrated in Buskett on Monday and yesterday, with the annual agricultural festival.

Considered to be the most important date in the Maltese folklore diary, it has become synonymous with traditional folk music and is an opportunity for farmers to show off their fresh produce and their animals.

A variety of vegetables, fruit, poultry, rabbits, as well as honey, wool and cotton were on display, while għana (folk music) and guitar strumming formed the background music to the two-day event, organised by the Rural Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Malta Agrarian Society.

Prizes were awarded by President George Abela at the close of the celebrations for a variety of competitions in agricultural produce, livestock and equines.

One of this year's novelties - there were no entries in 2009 - was the sheep milking competition, which awarded the animal that produced most milk in 24 hours.

Among the events was the traditional horse and donkey races in Saqqajja. Drivers, accompanied by their wives, were dressed up as farmers to evoke a sense of the past.

But not everyone looked at the traditional feast in the same way and politics came into play at the end of the day.

The Labour Party said the "lack of interest" in the activities organised by the government on the occasion was "a clear sign of no faith in its agrarian policy", while the government rebutted that the PL was "cut off from reality" because the feast had been attended by large crowds and remained popular despite several similar events to promote fresh local products.

Labour spokesman for agriculture, Joseph Sammut, claimed in a statement that it was a "silent and significant protest" against the way the government was "smashing" farmers and herdsmen with burdens they could not withstand.

But the government answered that had Dr Sammut attended, he would have seen information stands of 19 EU countries, which were attending a European Rural Network conference, organised by the EU and held in Malta for the first time.

It said this year alone, about 300 farmers and herdsmen were pumping around €40 million into the economy through modernising works, thanks to an EU grant scheme, showing their confidence in the agricultural sector.