What a festa!

Fire lit the sky over Grand Harbour as the first edition of the Malta International Fireworks Festival came to a close last night to commemorate the second anniversary of Malta's accession to the European Union.

The event was presented by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture and the Malta Tourism Authority in collaboration with the Malta Pyrotechnics Association.

Three Maltese and two foreign fireworks factories competed for the honours with their respective pyro-musical displays. The winners of the festival will be announced today. The competitors included the 15th August Fireworks Factory of Mosta, St Mary Fireworks Factory of Mqabba and St Michael's Fireworks Factory of Lija. The foreign competitors were Jubilee Fireworks Company from the UK and Luso Pirotecnia Company from Portugal.

The festival came to a grand finale with a non-competitive display by the Italian firm Orzella with its performance The Power of Fire.

Apart from these displays, throughout the two festival nights seven local factories demonstrated their abilities in the field of traditional Maltese fireworks. Nearby, in Floriana, the church of St Publius, all lit up, offered a fine sight as the parish celebrated its feast with its own modest pyrotechnics.