Midsummer night's reality

As they say, it is the obvious that we often fail to see. At a brief meeting, a representative of a large foreign tourism operator said that Malta's summer cultural calendar compares very favourably with that of a number of much larger European cities. "Why don't the Maltese take their holidays here," he quipped. "Sun, sea, and now some of the best musical and artistic events on the continent."

True, so true. Just a few weeks ago, Bryan Adams had an enormous audience at Luxol dancing on the palm of his hand. Hot on his heels, Joseph Calleja mesmerised audiences with his impeccable renditions of the classics at the Mdina Square. Our very own world class opera singer in the first capital city of our nation. How beautifully appropriate. And what a great follow-up it was to José Carrera's marvellous concert in the capital city.

Last week, our majestic Grand Harbour resonated with the sounds of music with roots in the four corners of the globe. From the spicy mixture of rock and African rhythms of Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant to John Mayall's classic blues, from the Wailers' driving reggae beat to Zucchero's spell-binding performance. From the masterful execution of the Pink Floyd repertoire by the Australian Pink Floyd to the melodic pop of Smokie.

Tonight it will be our pleasure to host what is clearly the biggest event of this wonderful Maltese summer, and possibly Europe - the glamorous Isle of MTV Malta Special. We are expecting thousands of young people to gather on the Granaries to dance and enjoy themselves with Spanish heart-throb Enrique Iglesias, Senegalese R&B singer Akon and the pop-rock band Maroon 5. Add to that line-up, our own Ira Losco who provides the headlining numbers from the Malta side, as well as Winter Moods and the G7 array of deejays. Our own talent is top class and deserves our utmost support.

I am particularly proud of the Isle of MTV Malta Special. Tonight's event is being offered by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture as a gift to the people. We not only managed to fend off competition from other countries. We are also providing this concert free of charge. Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome all the friends at MTV who have worked with us over the last few months. May tonight be the first event of many we will work on together in the future.

All these events have shown that Maltese events' organisers are not only willing to take risks on world-class acts but they are also delivering world-class logistical, technical and venue services to them. They are truly placing Malta on the map and for this I, as Tourism and Culture Minister, am truly grateful.

But the Maltese cultural summer is not over, certainly not. Yesterday, we kicked off the Malta Arts Festival, a 25-day long cornucopia of performances, exhibitions, concerts, films, and demonstrations.

On Saturday, Malta will be entertained by the joyous traditional Italian tunes of Renzo Arbore. August will be launched with Gigi d'Alessio romancing the stones of the Manoel Island as only an Italian can. And in September, Mro Ricardo Muti shall return to conduct not one but two great classical music concerts apart from conducting a seminar on Italian opera and open up his rehearsals.

While he is here, as honorary president of the new Mediterranean Music Academy, he will also help me to set it on the right course.

This list of events is not exhaustive and we have more announcements to make in the coming days.

Culture, the arts and entertainment are central to Malta's well-being and that of its visitors. They are ties which bring us together. They are also bridges stretching from this small island in the Mediterranean to people and cultures across Europe and beyond.

But that is not all. Along with those countries at the forefront of current economic thinking, we are realising that culture is a powerful economic force in its own right, just like industry and IT. It generates wealth and increases the GDP. As midsummer approaches, this is no longer a dream. It is a reality.