The feast of the Assumption of Our Lady is being celebrated in Żebbuġ, Gozo, on Sunday. Bishop Anton Teuma will lead a pontifical mass concelebrated with the parish clergy at 9am. Marches will be played in the main streets of the village at 11.30am.

The procession with the statue of Our Lady, led by Can. John Muscat and accompanied by the Santa Marija Band, starts at 7.15pm. Meanwhile, the Leone Band will give a concert at the main square. At the end of the procession at around 10pm, a fireworks display will be let off.

On Saturday, eve of the feast, Can. John Muscat will celebrate Mass, including the Te Deum, at 10am. The translation of the relic will take place from the Nazareth Eucharistic chapel to the parish church at 6.30pm.

It will be led by Nadur archpriest Can. Krystof Buttigieg, followed by mass. The homily will be delivered by Papas Prof. Martin Zammit of the Greek Catholic Church of Our Lady of Damascus, Valletta. The Missa Sancta Maria by Mro Antonio Mallia will be executed. The Santa Margerita Band of Sannat will play a band march from Triq Għajn Mhelhel at 9.30pm, followed by a musical programme at Pjazza l-Assunta at 10.30pm. Ground fireworks, together with a spectacle of light and synchronised music, will be held at midnight.

Monday is a day of thanksgiving. Archpriest John Sultana will celebrate Mass at 7pm. After mass, the statue of Our Lady will be carried back into its niche.

The celebrations will be broadcast live on Radju Għażżiela 101.4FM, live streamed, and on UTV.

Żebbuġ was established parish on April 28, 1688, and the first parish priest was Dun Franġisk Vella, who hailed from the same village. The foundation stone of the present church was laid two years later, in 1690, and it was dedicated on September 30, 1726.