Holidays

Holidays in Malta

Malta is strongly Catholic. About 98 percent of the population professes the Roman Catholic denomination, which is enshrined as the state religion in the island nation’s constitution. Domestic altars, ubiquitous images of saints and more than 360 churches nationwide bear witness to the deeply rooted faith.

Nevertheless, Easter Monday, Whit Monday and the 2nd day of Christmas are not public holidays – but numerous other religiously motivated festivals provide compensation. In addition, there are commemorative days, which mainly commemorate Malta’s still relatively young independence.

On the following public holidays, all offices and most shops are closed. Restaurants are usually open, however.

Overview

New Year’s Day – January 1

Saint Paul’s Shipwreck – on February 10

St. Joseph’s Day – on March 19

Freedom Day – on March 31

Karif Friday – two days before Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday – Sunday after the first full moon in spring

Labor Day – on May 1

Pentecost Sunday – 49 days after Easter Sunday

National Holiday (“Sette Giugno”) – on June 7

Peter and Paul – on June 29

Mary Assumption – on August 15

Festival of “Lady of Victories” (“Our Lady of Victory”) – on September 8

Independence Day – on September 21

Imperfect Conception – on December 8

Republic Day – on December 13

1st Christmas Day – on December 25

Worth knowing about selected holidays

Saint Paul’s Shipwreck

Celebrating a calamity with a glad heart may seem whimsical. But the shipwreck of the apostle, who was on his way from Palestine to Rome with other prisoners, signifies in a sense the spiritual birth for Malta. The disaster is said to have occurred in the year 60 in the bay off what is now La Valetta. According to tradition, Paul spent three months on the island spreading the Christian faith.

The patron saint Paul is now considered the “father” of all Maltese and is deeply revered. The processions, in which his statue is carried through the streets after Mass, are reminiscent of carnival parades in their blaze of colour. Fireworks traditionally conclude the day.

Freedom Day

Around 1800, the Order of Malta had to give way first to Napoleonic troops, who in turn gave way to the British a little later. Since 1814 Malta was a crown colony and played a strategically important role more than a hundred years later, especially in the Second World War. It was not until 1964 that the country gained its independence. On 31 March, the still young holiday commemorates the withdrawal of the last British troops in 1979.

“Lady of Victories” holiday

In 1530, the Spanish king had given the island to the Order of Malta (Knights of St. John), which had been founded in the 11th century at the time of the Crusades and was looking for a new home after being expelled from Rhodes by the Ottomans.

However, in early 1565 a strong Turkish fleet appeared off Malta and laid siege to the Order’s defences, which had been built in the meantime. When help arrived from Sicily, the Turks unsuccessfully broke off their siege. This event is commemorated on 8 September with festivities, a parade, a wreath-laying ceremony, the regatta off La Valetta and fireworks.