Make it happen through arts and events

Organising in Malta for the second year running the Isle of MTV places our country firmly on the map of event-oriented locations that have the necessary oomph with a special emphasis on young people.

Signing up with the MTV organisers to ensure that Malta will host this happening again this year and at least for the coming two years has been one of the more gratifying moments for me and I am glad the decision makers within MTV are keen to extend further their commitment to Malta.

As happens with many other visitors to this country, they have been struck by our nation's ambience, character, history and, even more so, by the warmth, enthusiasm as well as the organisational capability exuded by our people.

A word of gratitude is due to all those who have come together to ensure the success that has been achieved. It doesn't just happen and there are always countless persons who work backstage but without whose input the event would not have been what it turned out to be.

The performers, from Lady GaGa to Enrique Iglesias, from One Republic to The Kooks and concluding with N*E*R*D offered of their very best and the thousands of young people who turned up at the Granaries in Floriana were in for a well-deserved treat.

Through MTV, the concert will reach an audience of some 150 million persons, apart from the advertising spots about Malta that have been and will be aired by the music station.

This is a unique investment that the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority are making to ensure that Malta receives the most effective promotion in a world where tourism is becoming more and more competitive.

Then, last Tuesday not only marked the beginning of July but also the inauguration of an impressively-packed Malta Arts Festival comprising drama, ballet, classical music, choral works, flamenco, a live spectacular show by Spiteri Lucas entertainment, a street party, a street theatre performance based on Carmen and a wine festival.

Including works such as Anton Chekov's Vaudevilles, bringing over Iben Nagel Rasmussen from Denmark to offer solo performances, including a mix that ranges from classical Egyptian music to acoustic pop by Chasing Pandora, giving due importance to Maltese contemporary music, putting up an exhibition on architecture as art by Richard England, and within the same Auberge d'Italie a photography display by Patrick Fenech, as well as using different venues, which include the site of the Old Opera House ruins, MITP, the Palace Courtyard and Ospizio in Floriana, are among the ingredients which signify that the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) is managing to do wonders even with limited resources.

My dream remains for this annual arts festival to become better known beyond these shores and then we will have people coming over to Malta specifically to attend one event or another as opposed to enhancing their Malta experience after having already booked to be here on holiday, which in itself is already commendable.

This target cannot be achieved overnight. It requires steadily building the necessary cultural goodwill and MCCA is on the right track.

The arts festival is giving due recognition to home-grown talent, which, in turn, is not confined to the boundaries of that festival.

To give two divergent but striking examples, only recently, I enjoyed every moment of Ira Losco's launch of her amazing new album Fortune Teller and I am now eagerly looking forward to the Pavarotti Tribute Concert being given by another cultural ambassador who does us so proud: Joseph Calleja.

He will appropriately be accompanied by the National Philharmonic Orchestra that has been steadily building up its own brilliant track record and goodwill over the past years.

That's apart from countless other happenings throughout the year.

The way forward is making it happen through the arts and events.