Marsa spent just over €85,000 to serve as the country’s first – and only – capital of culture, with those funds going towards an exhibition, a carnival celebration, a children’s activity, one breakfast and two feasts. 

Information provided in parliament on Tuesday by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici shed light on where the inner harbour locality spent its cultural budget. 

Bonnici was asked by Opposition MP Darren Carabott to provide a breakdown of what Marsa had done throughout its year in the cultural limelight and to explain what activities had taken place.

The minister obliged by presenting a table that listed seven events held throughout 2022 and came with a total cost just north of €85,000. 

When announced as capital of culture last year, Marsa was promised a €200,000 budget to spend on cultural events. It is not clear if the town’s local council was unable to spend that amount of money or if the €200,000 promised never materialised. 

Events started with an opening ceremony held in January and ran until last month, when two separate Marsa parishes paraded their statues together for an event titled L-Akbar Titulari. 

In between, the locality organised a school-led carnival event, an activity in which children created decorative plates using dyed grains of rice, an art exhibition, a breakfast activity held on a bridge and a night of traditional music and għana. 

The minister provided a brief synopsis of each activity, but failed to provide a more detailed breakdown of how the events cost a total amount of €85,314.65. 

The breakfast activity, he said, saw anyone who happened to be passing by invited to breakfast. Neighbouring councils were also roped in. 

During carnival, children from the San Ġorġ primary school created masks using recycled material and their works were then exhibited locally. Children were also given a book for participating. 

As for the night of għana music, locals gathered outside Maria Regina church to enjoy an evening of traditional Maltese music. 

Marsa was declared Malta’s first “capital of culture” last year by Bonnici’s predecessor, José Herrera, who counted the town among his constituencies. 

The town's mayor, Josef Azzopardi, had said at the time that the town intended to put on painting and sculpture shows as well as larger events including ones on the waters of the Grand Harbour.  

The government's intention was to declare a different locality the nation’s “capital of culture” each year. But last month, as ministries worked to slash budgets and tighten purse strings, the Culture Ministry announced that it would be scrapping the initiative and instead replacing it with a yearly “region of culture” nomination. 

Twelve localities that make up Malta’s southern region - Qormi, Żejtun, Birżebbuġa, Għaxaq, Gudja, Marsaxlokk, Marsaskala, Santa Luċija, Luqa, Marsa, Ħamrun, and Santa Venera – will share the title for this coming year. They have been allocated a collective €250,000 to spend.