Band clubs, fireworks factories and other entities involved in organising village feasts are to be given the opportunity to tap €450,000 in funding.

The grants can be used for restoration projects, holding cultural events or to subsidise education initiatives such as degree courses for bandmasters. In the case of fireworks factories, funds may be used to improve safety standards.

Details on this scheme were revealed on Saturday by Culture Minister Jose Herrera during a news conference at Piazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta. The minister was accompanied by representatives of band clubs and other organisations involved in feasts.

Herrera noted that this was the fourth consecutive year that the government was allocating funds, but this time around the scheme was widened beyond band clubs.   “Feasts are a part and parcel of the Maltese folklore and must be cherished as much all those organisations who are behind them,” he remarked.

The culture minister said the government was forging ahead with its plan to seek official UNESCO recognition for village feasts, further cementing their place in Malta’s intangible cultural heritage.

“Such recognition would be crucial in terms of branding, as it would serve promote Maltese feasts even more as one of the country’s main attractions,” he added. 

The UNESCO bid was first announced back in 2014 but has so far failed to yield results.

Herrera said that for many years, feasts were snubbed by the cultural establishment who looked down on so-called popular culture. This attitude was now being reversed as the government is also supporting this cultural sector, he
remarked. 

The fund will be administered by the Malta Band Clubs Association and further details will be announced in the coming days.   Feast celebrations will be muted this year, with events limited to a simple Mass and procession following coronavirus containment measures introduced earlier in the year.