Holy Week commences on the Friday immediately before Good Friday, with the day dedicated to id-Duluri – Our Lady of Sorrows.

People attend Mass and processions are held in Valletta and in other towns and villages, carrying the statue of Our Lady through the streets. On Palm Sunday, fronds of palm leaves are shaped into crosses and are blessed in church. On Thursday, the day before Good Friday, in Malta it’s tradition to visit seven churches; all churches are beautifully decorated for the occasion and tourists and Maltese alike flock to see the display.

Good Friday is a day of sorrow, with churches taking down the decorations and displaying the colour red to signify the blood of Christ. There is no Mass on Good Friday; instead people go to church to kiss the cross at 3pm – the time that Christ allegedly died. Later, a procession occurs in some villages – this is a lengthy affair with hundreds taking part. This lasts for over two hours and statues are carried depicting the Stations of the Cross, with actors playing the parts of Roman soldiers, disciples and other characters. As a penance, some people wear white cloaks and hoods and drag large wooden crosses along the route; others have heavy chains fastened to their ankles and walk barefoot behind the rest of the procession.

The next day, churches are open all day, and are decorated with fresh flowers and adornments, and later on, a Mass is heard whereby each member of the congregation is given a candle and lighting this signifies Christ’s resurrection. The priest lights his candle first and then the light is passed from candle to candle until the whole church lights up. During this Mass, the church bells start ringing after being silent since Thursday. After the service, Figolli are given out – these are pastries made with pure almond paste and formed into shapes of lambs, fish or rabbits. Easter comes to a close on Easter Sunday after mass, which is a family day when families meet for lunch and give out gifts.

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Last year’s Malta Song for Europe was performed by Chiara singing “What If We?” a song written and composed by Gregory Bilsen and Marc Paelinck. Although the whole Maltese nation was rooting for her after she went through to the final from the semi, disappointingly, she only achieved 22nd placing at the end of the night. This was Chiara’s third outing to Eurovision; with her two previous attempts she fared much better placing third in 1998, and second in 2005.

On 20th February 2010, 20 artists competed in the “Go Malta Eurosong” competition, battling it out to represent Malta at the Eurovision 2010 Song Contest in Oslo. Each performer sang live at MFCC Ta’Qali, and the event was televised live on TVM and presented by Keith Demicoli and Pauline Agius. The winner was 18-year old Thea Garrett singing “My Dream”, a composition by Jason Cassar and Sunny Aquilina. The winning song romped home to victory with 102 points, well ahead of Glen Vella’s second-placed number “Just a Little More Love”, which ended the night with 58 points.

Born in Malta in 1992, Thea Garrett has been studying with renowned soprano Gillian Zammit. For the past two summers, she studied at The Sylvia Young Theatre School in London, the alma mater of many British singers, such as Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis and Emma Bunton from Spice Girls fame. Most recently, Thea was the opening act, in Rome, for Gigi D’Alessio’s world tour.

Thea will be taking part in the first Eurovision semi-final in Oslo on May 25th, along with entries from Greece, Russia, Portugal and Estonia.

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Malta Porn was Indiskarf’s first production, and it debuted in March 2009 at the Centre of the Mediterranean Institute Theatre Programme (MITP) in Valletta.

The story is centred on a young man called Stefan Bugeja who has grown up on the outwardly conservative island of Malta.

Stefan has a fiancée and when she reveals herself as a loose and somewhat immoral woman, Stefan feels his life has been destroyed and decides to emigrate to the USA, in search of a happier life. Little does he know what he’s about to let himself in for!

Once in America, Stefan gets involved with some friends who are embroiled in the adult-entertainment business, and gets absorbed in the industry himself. Songs in the musical include “Naked on a Sunday”, “Everyone in Malta is Related”, “ So Young and yet so Slutty “, “The Kind of Girl I am” and “The Song where Everyone Bitches”!

During 2009, after the performance in Valletta, Porn the Musical was staged at Argotti Gardens in July for a week’s run. In August 2009, a 75 minute version of the musical was performed for a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the George IVth Theatre. This is the first time that a Maltese musical has been shown for a full month at this world-renowned event. Choreographed by Emma Loftus and narrated by screenwriter Malcolm Galea, the cast at the festival included Max Dingli as the lead character, Louis Cassar as sleazy Director Martin Scoresleazy, Sarah Naudi as porn star Sanddy, David Ellul as the studio stud Dr Johnny Long, Eliza Borg as Stefan’s ex-finacee Jade and Toni Attard as the Miscellaneous Man.

Malta Porn The Musical is a laugh a minute and definitely works around an adult theme – however, there is no actual porn in the show, apart from it being the subject of the entire plot!

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Two Maltese colleges founded rugby teams during the 1970s; these colleges being St. Edwards College and Tal-Handaq College.

The schoolboy teams played against each other, and even challenged the veterans of the armed forces to matches! On a senior level, the game of rugby was played mainly by a few Maltese and several expatriates living on the island. In 1979, when the British services departed Malta for good, the game lost its popularity and almost died a death on the island. However, all was not lost as a group of Maltese rugby fans and players formed The Phoenicians, a local social rugby club in 1983. From that day on, the sport in Malta has regained a strong band of followers and has surged in popularity once more.

The Malta Rugby Football League was established in 1991, and in that year it saw a surge in membership caused by the formation of the University Rugby Football Club. This club was an amalgamation of University students and ex-public schoolboys from the UK. At the same time, there was a renaissance afoot in Maltese rugby with the rebirth of Overseas Rugby Club. In the 1990s, other clubs began to mushroom with two of today’s strong leading teams, Kavallieri and Stompers being formed during that decade.

In 2000, the Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU), as the League is now called, joined the International Rugby Board and Malta has participated in a number of internationals since then. Most recently, Malta faced Sweden in November 2009, with Malta triumphantly winning 25-23. In addition to the senior-level National and Club teams, there are also teams for U17s, U15s and U13s as well as a strong women’s league.

For further details about playing, watching rugby in Malta or if you simply want to buy the team shirt, use the contact details below:

MRFU Clubhouse, Marsa Sports Complex, Aldo Moro Street, Marsa, Malta GC, Europe
or email the current President of the MRFU: president@mrfu.org

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Here is a list of some of the hottest men in Malta.

1. Peter Sammut. Peter is a 32 year-old from Madliena with a passion for adventure, travel and sports. Having had a love of aviation throughout his teenage years, he followed his dream and became a commercial pilot. He currently flies for an international airline, that takes him all over the world. Standing 175 cms and weighing 80 kgs, he has short, black hair and likes eating out, fine wines, seeing new places and meeting people. He has a group of close friends and they often take part in adventure sports, these have included skydiving and bungee jumping.
2. Andrei Grech. Being a professional male model, Andrei smoulders in front of the lens and has featured in a number of print, commercial and fashion shoots both in Malta and internationally. Born in 1985, he is from Balzan, and has won a number of awards including Modelle International Mr Photogenic 2007, and Mr Louie Noir 2nd Runner Up.
3. Kevin James Borg. Kevin rose to international fame after winning the fifth series of Idol in Sweden in 2008. Born in Floriana in 1986, he initially started performing on several Maltese television shows such as Kalamita, and was a contender for the Maltese entry into the Eurovision Song Contest twice. His boy-next-door looks have definitely helped his popularity and have garnered him an army of fans in Sweden and Malta.
4. John Montanaro. One of Malta’s leading young actors, he has starred in Helen of Troy – a US mini-series – and the film Angli. He has always had a wide following due to his versatility on stage and screen.
5. Michael Mifsud. Born in 1981 in Pieta, Malta, Michael started his football career playing for Sliema Wanderers, before signing to Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern and then Norweigian club, Lillestrom. In 2007, he signed for English Premier League club, Coventry City. Mifsud plays for the Maltese National team, notably scoring a 21st minute hat-trick in a friendly against Lichtenstein in 2008, which resulted in a 7-1 win for Malta.

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To give the Knights of Malta their correct title, they should be called Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, and they were originally established in 1085. Membership consisted of a federation of monks responsible for looking after the sick and injured at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. Later on, they evolved into a military order, defending crusader territory in the Holy Lands of the Middle East and safeguarding Medieval Pilgrims journeying along treacherous routes from Europe. Throughout history, these Knights were recruited exclusively from the noble families of France, Italy, Spain, England and Portugal, with the Order gaining vast wealth from these aristocratic sons of the most wealthy and powerful families that Europe had to offer at the time.

In 1522, the Knights were expelled from their home-base which at the time was the island of Rhodes. The Emperor, Charles V, gave them the choice of Tripoli or Malta and in 1530; they took up residence on Malta, staying for a further 268 years, transforming what they called a rock into a flourishing island-fortress with impenetrable defences, and the symbol on their flag became known as The Maltese Cross. The Order was ruled by a “Grand Master” who answered directly to the Pope. They built a new capital city, Valletta, which was named after Jean Parisot de la Valette, the Grand Master at the time. In Valletta, they built the “Sacra Infermeria”, a hospital that could accommodate 500 patients of different classes, and was essentially the world-leading, free-clinic of its day.

In 1798, the French took control of Malta and the Knights left Malta, scattering widely throughout Europe. Today, there are around 12,500 members of the Order of Malta worldwide. These modern-day Knights and Dames are devoted to the exercise of Christian virtue and charity, and committed to achieving Christian spiritual perfection and to using their energies caring for others. They are presided over by the Grand Master and Sovereign Council based in Rome. Several websites and wiki sites are dedicated to research and history of these ancient orders.

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The legal drinking age is different from country to country; those in Europe tend to allow drinking from 16-18 years of age whereas in the USA, the legal drinking age is 21. Some Islamic nations prohibit the drinking of alcohol altogether, others restrict prohibition to those of the Muslim faith.

For many years, the legal drinking age in Malta was 16, but in 2009, this was raised to 17.

The nighlife area of Paceville is very popular with teenagers and younger people. Other areas known for night life are Bugibba, Sliema and St. Julians. Bars throughout Malta should ask for ID (passport, driving licence or ID card) if a person appears to be below the legal age. Malta bucks the general trend seen in other Southern European countries, with teenagers often found drinking in Paceville bars and clubs, emulating the British culture of binge drinking. Recent studies show that alcohol consumption in Malta exceeds that of the UK.

In addition to bars, restaurants and clubs selling alcohol, there are also a number of bottle-shops in these areas that sell wines, beers and spirits, as well as soft drinks. Drinking alcohol purchased from these outlets in public has caused a lot of media attention over recent years, with a clampdown on drinking in the streets. At village feasts, bar owners set up street stalls selling drinks to the revellers and tourists visiting from overseas, and this is tolerated more than in popular nighlife areas such as Paceville.

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Whether you prefer a garden wedding, a seaside-wedding or a historic wedding Malta is one of the most beautiful places to spend the most important day of your life in.

Malta’s location also makes it a popular destination for foreigners who have family and friends living around the globe, who are in need of a strategic gathering point, due to its central position in the Mediterranean.

Wedding planners

The past decade has seen an increase in the popularity of using wedding planners. As we all know planning a wedding can be very time consuming and people have less time on their hands nowadays.

One of the most successful wedding planners in Malta is Sarah Young. She’s a vibrant committed woman with an eye for detail and undaunted by new challenges. Her team and her can plan your wedding from beginning to end according to your specifications and budget.

Sarah Young will take care of the venue, bridal wear, catering, photographer/videographer, invitations and souvenirs and even accommodation for foreign guests among many other things.

Other popular wedding planners in Malta are; Magic moments (magicmomentsmalta.com), who specialize in overseas weddings and Weddings in Malta (wednmalta.com).

Wedding venues

There are hundreds of venues suitable for all sorts of wedding in Malta.
Here is a list of the most popular ones:

• Castello Dei Baroni – Tel/Fax No: (+356) 21 573483
• Hilton – Contact: Johanna Cremona – Banqueting Executive – Tel No: (+356) 23 73 3666
• Palazzo Parisio – Contact: Justine Pergola, PR & Events Manager – Tel No: (+356) 21 412461
• Villa Arrigo – Tel No: (+356) 21 232127/8
• The Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux – Tel No: (+356) 21 450560
• The Riviera Resort & Spa – Tel No: (+356) 21 525900 / 22 899678
• Grand Hotel Gozo – Tel No: (+356) 21 563840
• Ta’ Frenc Restaurant – Tel No: (+356) 21 553888

Wedding dresses and Men’s hire services

What’s a wedding without the right dress? You’ll find many places in Malta where you can find the perfect dress for you at the right price. Below are the most popular bridal shops in the Maltese islands:

• Eurosposa – Constitution Street, Mosta – Tel No: (+356) 21 434318 / 21 423761
• Wedding Bells – Colesium Arcades, Valletta – Tel No: (+356) 21 224234
• Monsoon – Bisazza Street, Sliema – Tel No: (+356) 21 317951
• Centro Sposa – 170, St. Joseph High Street, Hamrun – Tel No: (+356) 21 223374
• Ivory&Co – Notabile Road, Attard – Tel No: (+356) 21 423858

Photographers and Videographers

Tying the knot with that special someone is certainly an occasion you want to remember for the rest of your life so you definitely want the right person there to capture every moment for you. Below is a list of the most poplar photographers and videographers in Malta:

• Fotogenic Studio – 63, St.Sebastian Street, Qormi – Tel No: (+356) 21 445647
• Gino Galea – 198, Eucharistic Congress Road, Mosta – Tel No: (+356) 21 422371 / 21 416537
• Cachia Roderick – Pinkish Line, Republic Square, Zejtun – Tel No: (+356) 21 659314

Wedding cars

Last but not least every bride and groom needs a stylish way of getting around on their special day. Whether you are looking for something classic and traditional or something modern and luxurious the establishments below can provide you with what you’re looking for.

• AVIS – 50, Msida Seafront, Msida MSD 9043 – Tel No: (+356) 25 677129 / 25 677130
• Drive-a-Way Ltd – 1, Nicolo Isouard Street, Sliema – Tel No: (+356) 21 331105
• Meli Group of Companies Ltd – 90, Fremond Street, Qormi QRM 11 – Tel No: (+356) 21 487030
• Vintage – Nicola Ardoino Street, Qawra SPB08 – Tel No: (+356) 21 576492

I hope that the above information can make the preparations for your very special day less stressful. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further information or comments.

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“What if we” win the Eurovision Song Contest 2009? The Maltese nation and most certainly even Chiara, the winner of Malta Song for Europe 2009 will be asking the same question too.

Maltese talents have been attending the Eurovision Song Contest since 1971 and achieved the best results in 2002 and 2005, finishing 2nd on both occasions.

In 2002 it was Ira Losco with her song “7th Wonder” and in 2005 Chiara sang “Angel”. On the 7th of February Chiara singing “What if We” won EuroSong 2009 and will there represent Malta for the 2nd time at the Eurovision.

> Click here to watch the video clip of “What if We” by Chiara <

Malta Song for Europe 2009 is actually the winning song at EuroSong 2009, a competition organized by the PBS (Public Broadcasting Services) Malta. 80 songs were initially selected for participation. During the heats that started in November 2008, an international panel of judges choose 15 entries to make up the final, whilst another 5 songs where chosen by the public through a telephone voting system.

The final was held on 7th February 2009. After an incredible evening, which attracted a huge crowd and thousands of Maltese people watching from home, the following 3 singers where selected by the judges to make it to the super final.

1. Chiara singing “What if We”, composed by Marc Paelinck and written by Gregory Bilsen;
2. Q with the song “Before You Walk Away”, composer Paul Giordmaina and lyricist Fleur Balzan;
3. Eleonor Cassar singing “Someday”, with Paul Giordmaina and Fleur Balzan as composer and lyricist respectively.

The EuroSong 2009 winner was chosen by televoting. Chiara managed to obtain over 12,000 votes and won the contest, 2nd placed Q got almost 10,000 votes. Malta Song for Europe 2009 is therefore “What if We” and we wish the best of luck to Chiara at this year’s Eurovision in Moscow, Russia.

What do you think about Malta’s chances for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest?

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Many of the Malta buses are old and quite a treat to ride in. However, they are incredibly cheap! Preparing small change in advance is highly recommended.

All the towns & villages can be reached by bus, and there are frequent connections from practically all holiday resorts to Valletta.

Bus services in Gozo are less efficient. They operate from the bus station, Main Gate Street, Victoria. However some routes have infrequent timings and cater for the needs of local people rather than tourists. Current timetables are displayed at the bus station (where there is a dispatcher’s office), but they list many bewildering variations, with services reduced during Winter, then altered in Summer (when workers finish early). Moreover, on some routes, the last bus from Victoria terminates at its destination and does not complete the normal circuit back to the bus station.

The no 25 bus, which runs from Victoria to Mgarr Harbour in conjunction with the Malta-Gozo ferry, can be recommended. It departs from Mgarr soon after the arrival of each ferry and sets off from Victoria 30 minutes before sailing time.

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