New Year’s Eve in Floriana will kick off in style with a party on St Anne Street and the mayor is promising this year’s event will be bigger and better than last year’s celebrations.

The event will start at 6 p.m. on Friday with a Christmas parade by Big Friends Guggen Musik and continue until 2 a.m. on Saturday. A main stage set up for the event will welcome Maltese singers and dancers and the Big Band Brothers orchestra.

The night will be compèred by John Bundy. A fireworks display will accompany the New Year’s countdown.

The first New Year’s Eve party in Floriana was held last year but the turnout fell short of the council’s expectations. However, mayor Nigel Holland expressed his satisfaction at the positive feedback the council was still getting.

Calling it a national celebration, Mr Holland said last year’s edition was a “successful experiment which filled a vacuum in the Maltese calendar”.

Asked about the possibility of merging the celebrations with those being organised in the capital city, Valletta, Mr Holland initially chose not to answer. ­However, Local Councils Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said noted the two activities complemented each other and offered a bigger variety for the public.

“If anyone comes up with a good proposition, the local council would take it into consideration,” Mr Holland continued.

Together with the Malta Festival of Mechanised Ground Fireworks, the New Year’s Eve street party in Floriana benefits from a cultural funding scheme for local councils.

“This scheme promotes the patrimonial, historical and artistic local heritage,” Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said.

Tourism was made sustainable if the island exposed its heritage, he continued, adding that about 30,000 tourists roamed the island last week.

This year, 54 events benefitted from the cultural funding scheme. For next year, €250,000 will be invested in local activities through the same scheme.

St Anne Street’s permanent decorations offer a unique environment and the arches on both sides of the road conveniently offer shelter from all types of weather.

St Anne Street will be closed for traffic all day on Friday and drivers can access Valletta through Il-Vittmi tal-Gwerra Furjaniżi, Sa Maison, and Sarrija streets.