Abridged versions of the  Malta International Arts Festival and Malta Jazz Festival will take place in July subject to COVID-19 restrictions, Festivals Malta announced on Friday.

The Malta International Arts Festival will launch on Saturday with a live event and will run between July 3 and 31, showcasing local talent and artists as well as two international performers.

Directed by Ruben Zahra, the festival will feature the likes of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Żfin Malta, other local dancers and choreographers as well as seasoned actors and artists.

The Malta Jazz festival will be held betweeen July 12 and 17 and will see local and international artists perform at the City Theatre and Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta, with additional performances and masterclasses at the Hotel Phoenicia.

Artistic director Sandro Zerafa said that while this year’s festival would not feature headliners, enthusiasts of the festival can expect to hear the vocals of Chiara Pancaldi accompanied by Darryl Hall, Dmitry Baevsky, Yonathan Avishai, Felipe Cabrera who will perform songs from his album ‘Mirror’ and the Danny Grissett Trio.

Furthermore, the festival will also feature the annual exhibition titled ‘Jazz Expressions’ by Therese Debono which will be available for viewing at the Hotel Phoenicia until the end of July. 

It is the second consecutive year that the two annual events have been forced to restrict their schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Speaking at a press conference to launch both festivals, Culture Minister Jose Herrera thanks artists, crew and organisers for their resilience.

“Your resilience reflects your passion for the sector and as a government we will continue supporting your efforts and endeavours to come out of this situation with stronger and more sustainable creative and cultural sectors”, the minister said.

Herrera currently faces pressure from the artistic sector over COVID-19 restrictions, which sectoral interests say make organising most events financially unfeasible.

Artists are planning a protest outside parliament on Saturday morning – a move sparked by indignation at them being refused a permit to protest due to public health rules.