Some 20 rock concerts and festivals due to be held across Malta this year have been supported by a €300,000 fund.

The Rock'N Malta fund by Festivals Malta helps bankroll the events and has been running for six years.

Event organisers applied to tap into the fund in July and the events will take place from March to December. 

“Over 650 artists will be participating in events funded by Rock'N Malta this year,” Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said. 

Festivals Malta is a government entity responsible for hosting cultural events.

Bonnici spoke at the fund launch event at Hard Rock Cafe, Valletta. 

Among the concerts and festivals to benefit from the fund is Rock The South, a three-day rock festival celebrating its tenth year in May.

The festival will receive €10,000, funding roughly a third of the festival's costs, its organiser Nick Morales told Times of Malta. 

“Funds are very important to improve the event's logistics and bring bigger acts,” Morales said. Rock the South has been able to grow each year because of the funding, he said. 

Aaron Zahra chairman of Festivals Malta said that the fund has improved the local rock scene in Malta. “Because of Rock'N Malta there are more quality events,” he said.

Although one event will be a concert for Finnish band and 2006 Eurovision winner, Lordi, Festival Malta's primary focus is on growing the local music scene, Zahra said. 

He said that one goal of bringing international acts is to help foster contact between Maltese and foreign artists. 

Rock'N Malta funds an umbrella of subgenres within rock music. The Fund's calendar also includes Dark Malta a three-day gothic/metal/industrial music festival in April and a Christmas concert by the pop-rock band The Travellers held towards the end of the year.

November will also see the staging of a symphonic rock orchestra.  

What rock events will take place this year?

• Lordi concert - March
• Dark Malta - April
• Music Playground – Between April and September
• Rock the South 10th Edition | A symphonic rock show -May
• Rock Concert | Gogol Bordello –  June
• John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest – July
• Plaguefest – August
• Venti Music Fest | The Creepers – Blues in Malta | – September
• Rock Wired - October
• A Symphonic Rock Orchestra and Choir - November
• The Gozo Youth Orchestra – November and December
• The Travellers Christmas Concert – December
• Mike and the Mechanics | Rock in the Forest | Steven Rothery | Alan Parsons – Date to be announced