Traditional village feasts have returned after a COVID-enforced hiatus but enthusiasts say they are struggling with finding people willing to help out at the celebrations.

While many are keen for the return after two years of the boisterous week-long celebrations honouring localities’ patron saints, some feasts may be scaled down due to a lack of volunteers.

Feast enthusiasts from different localities who spoke to Times of Malta said that, while the number of people willing to volunteer has been dwindling for years, the pandemic has exacerbated the problem.

Band players, for instance, who are often paid for their time, found other jobs to tide them over during the last two summers and some are unwilling to give this up to return to playing a few nights a week.

“We had a lot of people who picked up new hobbies during the pandemic and feared we had lost them for good. Some have returned now that the feast is close, although not everyone is dedicating the same time as before,” Stephen Caruana, treasurer of the 12th May Band and Social Club, said.

Organisers are also struggling to attract young people. According to Christopher Briffa, general secretary of the Band Clubs Association, entire age groups were “lost” while feasts were on hold.

Briffa, who is also involved in the Mqabba feast, recalled how teenagers who had started expressing an interest in becoming actively involved in the organisational side of feasts in 2019 now have other interests.

“We lost a lot of young people aged between 14 and 18 who are now used to doing other things. A lot of work is needed to attract people from this age group,” he said.

He also pointed out that people tend to wrongly assume volunteers are only needed during the week-long celebrations. For a feast to be successful, a lot of work has to be put in throughout the year.

Fundraising activities, for instance, require hands-on work months before the actual celebrations kick off. With fewer people involved, enthusiasts worry such events will be smaller and raise less money.

“It’s clear that people want to come to the festa, they want to see all the traditions… but they’re not willing to give their time to help out. Organisers have to be creative and enthusiastic to find ways to attract people and get them involved all year long,” Briffa said.

He suggested introducing an education campaign that would encourage the community to embrace the tradition.

Meanwhile, drawing from the experience of organising the St Paul’s Shipwreck feast in Valletta, held in February, Għaqda tal-Pawlini general secretary Edward Bonello said the association has had to work on keeping volunteers involved for years, even before COVID-19 hit.

Because Valletta constantly undergoes gentrification and the city’s population is ageing, organisers need to be more creative, Bonello said.

“What we do is organise a lot of events. But we try to come up with original ideas, keeping in mind that people today are often busy. We have to be efficient,” he said.

Activities for children are also regularly held as part of efforts to encourage younger generations to get involved.

Rising costs

As organisers scramble to find volunteers, they are also coming to terms with the fact that feast are not immune to the impact of rising costs.

This might not be much of an issue in the upcoming feasts as materials used are bought well in advance but future ones will be hit hard, organisers fear. It could mean scaled down fireworks, decorations or activities.

“The material used for fireworks, the metal used for ground fireworks, wood and fabric used for decorations… all this has tripled in price.

“So, for instance, if we would spend €20,000 on raw material, this has now shot up to €60,000. This is not possible and so we have to think hard and reduce the overall quantity,” Caruana said.

Briffa echoed the concerns, saying that, while this year’s feasts might not be impacted as much, from next year organisers will have no option but to focus on a few key days.

“Next year, will be a big issue, especially if the invasion of Ukraine persists. Organisers will have to focus on the important days instead of week-long celebrations,” he said.

Fundraising efforts will also have to change, he said, especially in localities where residents are new and who have no family ties there.

Welcoming the government’s announcement that up to €6,000 will be on offer to help feast organisers, Briffa said this would only cover a fraction of the costs.

“We cannot keep looking back. We need to work to keep up with the times while still honouring our traditions. We cannot just have street parties and call them festi. All the other elements, be it fireworks, concerts or street decorations, need to be safeguarded,” Briffa said.