Lm590,000 spent on village feasts in 2001

Expenditure on village feasts by parish churches is on the rise, increasing from Lm574,641 in 1999 to Lm593,091 in 2001, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Expenditure on parish festas held in Gozo last year stood at Lm173,751, or 29.3 per cent of the total recorded expenditure.

Of the Malta-related expenditure in 2001, a sum of Lm138,798 was spent in the southern harbour district, Lm94,607 in the northern harbour district, Lm71,915 in the south eastern district followed by the northern district with Lm60,851 and the western district with Lm53,169.

At Lm253,608, or 42.8 per cent of all parish festa outlay, outdoor festivities claimed the lion's share of expenditure in 2001. An 18.8 percentage share spent in street decorations rated second.

In 2001, the surveyed parish festas registered a total income of Lm572,532, an increase of 0.8 per cent over 1999. The bulk of this, 56.7 per cent, emanated from donations, followed by fund-raising activities, which generated 25.1 per cent of total income.

Parish festas in Malta and Gozo recorded a deficit of 3.5 per cent.