The Public Holidays in Malta
Malta has more public holidays than any other country in Europe. More than 90 percent of the Maltese are Catholic, which goes a long way to explaining the 14 religious public holidays each year. If you are staying on the island, the odds are good you will be here for one of them. So here is a quick run-through of these days, with a few notes on the ones that are only known nationally.
New Year’s Day on the 1st of January is one everyone knows.
The Feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck is the second of the year. The story goes that St. Paul founded the first Christian community in Malta in the first century AD, after a storm drove his ship onto the Maltese coast. That happened on the 10th of February, and every year on that day there are religious ceremonies and festivities in the streets around Valletta.
On the 19th of March, the Feast of St Joseph honours St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and stepfather of Jesus. It is celebrated most in Mdina and Rabat, where a statue of St. Joseph is carried from the Sanctuary to the Church of St. Mary of Jesus, with crowds and fireworks following along. Italy, Spain, Poland and Portugal mark the day too.
In 1979 the British troops withdrew from Malta. On the 31st of March, the last British forces left, and Malta became a fully independent state for the first time. Every year since 1979 that day has been celebrated as Freedom Day, a public holiday in Malta.
Good Friday is marked with a procession in memory of the death of Jesus Christ, in the week around Easter each year. On this day the streets turn into something like an open-air theatre, telling the Catholic story of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
International Workers’ Day on the first of May is observed in many countries to draw attention to workers’ rights.
Sette Giugnio falls every 7th June in memory of 4 people killed by British troops at the end of the First World War. The name is Italian, a nod to the Italian support of the time, and it simply means 7th of June.
One of the oldest celebrations of all, going back to the 3rd century AC, the Feast of St Peter and St Paul falls on the 29th of June. As we have heard, St Paul founded the first Christian community in Malta. St Peter never actually visited the island, yet he too is honoured here. The pair are seen as the two Apostles who brought the Christian faith to Malta. The day is celebrated in the streets right across the island, with statues everywhere you look. In Rabat there are dance performances, traditional dishes, and horse and donkey races near the city. Plenty of countries mark the day, but nowhere does it quite like Malta.
The Assumption of Mary is a public holiday in many European countries, and Catholic Malta is no exception. Here the Feast of the Assumption falls on the 15th of August.
Victory Day usually brings a Maltese armed forces parade along the Republic Road in Valletta. It is held every 8th of September and marks the end of three historic sieges of Malta: the French siege that ended in 1800, the great siege of the mid-16th century, and the siege during the Second World War. The day is known as Victory Day.
Independence Day marks the day Malta gained independence, the 21st of September 1964.
In the town of Cospicua the Immaculate Conception is celebrated every 8th of December, with church services held for the occasion.
The 13th of December 1974 is the day the Republic of Malta came into being, so each year Republic Day is a public holiday. On it, the president of Malta honours those who have brought success to the country.
The last public holiday of the year is Christmas Day on the 25th of December, known the world over, in the Christian faith, as the day Jesus Christ was born.
So many of Malta’s public holidays have a religious root, but plenty also mark the departure of the various occupying forces and the country’s road to independence. In short, Malta has so many public holidays because of its long history of occupation and because most Maltese are Christian and live out their faith.
