Festival kicks off to clash of swords

The third edition of the Malta Historic Cities Festival organised by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture kicked off yesterday morning in Bastion Square, Mdina, with an exciting display of sword fighting from the UK mediaeval re-enactment group Swords of Dumnonia featuring authentic weapons and armour.

A group of falconers from Slovakia thrilled a large group of school children and tourists with a demonstration of falconry.

The festival includes historical pageantry, re-enactments of various episodes from Malta's history and a number of concerts in the historic towns of Valletta, Mdina and Vittoriosa.

Addressing the launch, Francis Zammit Dimech, Minister for Tourism and Culture, said: "Malta's walled cities represent our country's history because it was through these cities that our country was administered and it was in these walled cities that Malta's civil and religious leaders lived.

"It was also in these cities that the Maltese people gathered for shelter in case of attacks. When we re-enact past events we are delving into the history of our forefathers and of our country."

He added: "Our history forms an important part of one of Malta's tourism segments, the history and culture segment which accounts for about 160,000 tourists annually."