Strawberry delight at Mgarr

Aaron Grech

Apr 6th 2010, 09:59

The Imgarr 'Festa Frawli' 2010 (Strawberry Festival) this year will be held Saturday, 11th of April in the Imgarr parish square. Besides fresh strawberries being available throughout the day from several stalls spread around the church area, two open air kitchens will be serving freshly made gourmet dishes, deserts and fruit salads all made with fresh strawberries! Smoothies and fruit drinks, as well as typical Maltese food such as Timpani, Bigilla, Sfinage, Snails as well as roasts, pasta and salads will also be available. Folk themed entertainment will include musicians playing traditional instruments, singers and several dance troupes from Malta and Gozo, as well as local talent. Special events include the presentation and sale of a record breaking strawberry gateau. Children will be kept busy with our ample playground, animators and horse / pony rides. This year, the event has been expanded to cover the whole area around the church, not just the main square. Free Park and Ride with regular shuttle service will be provided, and ADT Route No.47 (Valletta, Pieta, Msida, B'Kara, Mosta) stops directly at the event. For more information visit http://www.lejlamgarrija.com or contact us on 21520011 / 27520011

Paul Camilleri

Apr 29th 2009, 14:24

A BIG well done to the organisers of this event. The huge ammount of people that visited Mgarr was so huge that it gives the courage that is needed to keep on with these type of events. How can one expect strawberries to be sold cheaper when it has to be bought from the farmers ? It was freshly picked during those six hours of the event !! You can`t get it fresher than that !!Can`t you ? How can one expect to park just next to the church when even when you go to Valletta, you have to park about half a mile away, 5 stories under and you have to pay what you have to pay !!!! At least , if you parked in the football ground , you just payed some euro cents ( maximum 1 euro !!) . I think THAT SOME OF THE VISITING PEOPLE HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO BEHAVE AND WAIT FOR THEIR TURN TO BUY STRAWBERRIES AND OTHER STUFF because some of them acted like they have NEVER saw a strawberry before !! On the other hand, there is alwayes room for improvement. WELL DONE AND KEEP IT UP. CU NEXT YEAR

Angie Conti

Apr 28th 2009, 14:50

Well done to all those who took the iniative. Perhaps if more people did the same, then the Maltese would not need to crowd into one event.

We should all be greatful and support the organisers - regardless whether the event is of interest to you or not. I don't like crowds, I did not attend this event. But it was there for those who wanted to do somethoing different.

Constructive criticism is fine and healthy - but on't forget to praise the good!!!

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Apr 28th 2009, 01:26

@Johann Mifsud

On the contrary, we should be thankful for the existence of people who are ready to point out what is wrong and to offer suggestions for improvements because that leads to real progress as opposed to mere novelty.

"If a path to the better there be, it begins with a full look at the worst."

-- Thomas Hardy

Alicia Said

Apr 27th 2009, 23:11

@ Joe Borg. If the stalls were to be spread around the church, it will take the same setting of the Lejla Mgarrija. Personally, I would not agree if two different local festivities were to have an identical format.

romain GALEA

Apr 27th 2009, 20:36

Strawberry delight - my foot- I concur will most negative feedback comments since it was really a complete flop with no parking organisation and complete chaos apart from the mixed directions given by the same organisers. I will not dream of going again. I do hope something is learnt and not forgotten before any other events. What a pity when the village core was closed to traffic but chossing to squeeze the stalls in the parvis.

J.Borg

Apr 27th 2009, 20:25

@ Alicia Said I only suggested that stalls should be placed on the street around the church and not on the church parvis......that surely will have a better flow. And if need be place two cash points, one on entering the square and another behind the church. That way queues will be better dispersed. Or at least if one wants to keep the stalls on the parvis, the stand should be placed on the road and the stalls such as wasteserve and others also should not be placed on the parvis. If these were placed in the sreet entering the square these would have a better advert!!! As to some commentators saying that i moaned, that's not true i only suggested that these activities should be organised but care should be taken not to cause confusion.

Alicia Said

Apr 27th 2009, 18:34

I would like to congratulate all the organizers for the wonderful ‘Festa Frawli’. It seems that it has reached the peak of success considering the substantial amount of individuals suffocating the Mgarr church square. However, it comes to my dismay that such criticism points out peculiar suggestions that don’t highlight real-problem elucidation. How can one irrationally speak about high prices of strawberries, and not considering the bad weather radically affecting strawberry harvesting during the end of the week? How can a park and ride system from Ta’ Qali work in a feasible manner when it is packed by people visiting the Monti stalls on Sundays? Regarding parking and traffic chaos one should have utilized the public transport. Speculating about the recurring issue of the need of scattered stalls on a larger area, won’t this bring about worse parking and traffic congestion conditions? It will unquestionably decrease the amount of parking spaces and route accessibility. The best solution is to keep the same area and organize an on-going flow of people around the stalls. I am confident to state that most of the people occupying the limited available area were chatting and not queuing to be served from the stalls.

Marthese Mussett

Apr 27th 2009, 17:00

i did not go to festa frawli and judging by these comments i was lucky that i opted to go for a pleasant afternoon in buskett.The products seem tasty and it s a brilliant idea to have festafrawli,but can t we ever do something right?Why hold an event like this on the church parvis if it was aimed at people from all areas of Malta?Where did you think you were going to fit all those people?Did you think about people pushing prams and people in wheelchairs?Oh my God I can just imagine someone spilling a milkshake on me after being shoved and pushed and prodded.And why can t people queue up and wait for their turn instead of acting as if they have not eaten a piece of cake for years?Good luck for next year,

J Muscat

Apr 27th 2009, 13:00

for the sake of those who think criticism is unwarranted - i always attended this festival since it started, and i will do next year , BUT this year it was a complete mess and i think it will end up a victim of its own success if certain short comings wont be addressed.
some points for organisers to take note
1) i spent abt three hours there and did not manage to see more than one strawberry,
2) the procedure was focused mereley on selling and not promoting strawberries 'per se'- some marketing minds needs to be employed on the layout and presentation of the whole festa
3) most of the time i spent there the main stage was idle except for a few minutes
4) i could not see the need to have wasteserve on the main stage - they might have easily obtained another stall to promote themselves
5) for such a traditional festival i would keep it as is and not include banks promotion stands or another one selling pots and pans.
6) re the parking there's nothing more to add

Jason Copperstone

Apr 27th 2009, 11:39

While I applaud the idea of such a festival, I cannot help but express my disappointment at the chaos of yesterday's event. For myself and my family it was a nightmare. It was barely accessible for many persons especially those with small children, or those in wheelchairs (I use a crutch myself). Like others who have commented before it would have been better to spread the stalls around a larger area to reduce the crowd. It was very unsafe and I hardly saw a strawberry as I could get nowhere near a stall. I would like to ask the organizers to please consider these issues next time round.

David Battistino

Apr 27th 2009, 10:50

I would like to thank Isabelle Agius, J.Borg and the rest for their suggestions. As Aaron Grech said it is the result of the event’s success that creates this atmosphere. I would like to thank also the farmers and all the volunteers that made this event possible. It gives us courage to strive further in our aim to promote that which is good in our society especially coming from our village of Imgarr. Having said that we welcome positive remarks as well and promise to try and do better and if God willing next year it would be better. In the meantime let’s say SEE YOU in August for the ‘Lejla Imgarrija’!

S Mizzi

Apr 27th 2009, 10:46

Quality, not quantity!! Everybody knows that foreign ice-cream is full of crap. Yesterday’s Mgarr ice-cream was natural and heavenly tasty with edible cups. Besides that, I was very pleased to see the use of wooden forks, paper bags, activities for children and an informative model of strawberries growing.

I got carried away with the atmosphere and bought a lot of strawberries. At first I did think 3 euros per pack were a bit pricey. But then I realized that every bag was fully packed with huge delicious strawberries. (I couldn’t even find one bad strawberry!)

I do agree with all, the crowd was terrible. I’m looking forward to visit again next time as I’m sure it will be an even better success. A hearty congrats to all the organizers!

Rosemarie F. Doublet

Apr 27th 2009, 09:39

its a pity, dont really know how to put it the idea was nice, some presentations yes but very disorganised, took us three efforts to get there (we try to support the Maltese farmers, but please before organising something like that in a small village of Mgarr, dont just think of the selling of stuff and making of the money first, think about all those who come to support you, all the tourists who come from different parts of the world, people with kids . PRESENTATION IS IMPORTANT, A SMILE IS IMPORTANT, ........... FOR NEXT YEAR PLEASE BETTER ORGANISING AND BE MORE ELITE, OTHERWISE PRODUCT IS GREAT.

M. Calleja

Apr 27th 2009, 09:32

@ Aaron Grech & Johann Mifsud
I agree that such activities should be commended and repeated. Well done, to whoever came up with this idea 3 years ago - an innovative way of exhibiting our produce and another highlight on Malta's cultural calendar, plus, Malta's villages are a feature we tend to put aside with today's hectic living. If only these activities could take place more often.

To Mr Mifsud: For those who had eyes, there was confusion yesterday...and I wasn't even carrying a baby. People 'moan' because things could have been better. If we had to accept your argument ie: "thank god that something new is being organized", we would still be living in caves, using candles, cooking on fires, and hunting for food. The art of democracy is that of allowing everyone to say one's own, then cropping destructive and using constructive criticism, so that the next edition of the event is always an improvment on the ones before.

To the organizers: Please repeat the event next year, but set up the stalls around the whole village. This way, people will also have a chance to walk around and discover the beauty of the country-side around Mgarr, Malta.

David Battistino

Apr 27th 2009, 09:29

I would like to thank Isabelle Agius, J.Borg and the rest for their suggestions. As Aaron Grech said it is the result of the event’s success that creates this atmosphere. I would like to thank also the farmers and all the volunteers that made this event possible. It gives us courage to strive further in our aim to promote that which is good in our society especially coming from our village of Imgarr. Having said that we welcome positive remarks as well and promise to try and do better and if God willing next year it would be better. In the meantime let’s say SEE YOU in August for the ‘Lejla Imgarrija’!

a. sciberras

Apr 27th 2009, 09:23

well done for the excellent iniatitive in organising this event. however the event was highly lacking.
all stalls were clustered just outside the church, and not in the streets like other events held at Mgarr, causing a lot of congestion and crowding, and thus it was a very unpleasant experience, with people trying to eat their ice-creams and not really managing! prices were also unreasonable!
the photographic exhibition was something of a joke! from what could be deducted this was organised by the malta photographic society. people were commenting that the winning photos were not exactly the best ones (i am no expert so i cannot say if this is true). i can say however that only the winners were actually mentioned and not all the participants, which is a pity if we want people to actually participate in such competitions.

d. borg

Apr 27th 2009, 09:22

The idea is good, but the organisation could be better. The traffic was chaotic, a park and ride system from Ta Qali would help. The space was very limited for the large amount of people present. And I cannot understand why stalls only started selling at 11.15 when by 10 the square was already full of people. The strawberry products were delicious!

L. Spiteri

Apr 27th 2009, 09:08

This year is my first visit at Fest Frawli and I have say a big thank you to all organisers. My kind suggestion though is that stalls should be spreaded and not only in the church square. As you could have noticed people gathered all at the same place and believe me being in that crowd it was horrible and gives a feeling of non returning. Also, due to this large crowd, all the goodies and hard work our chefs were preparing couldn't be appreciated and in fact I could see it only now thanks to times of Malta online video provided.

C.Cassar

Apr 27th 2009, 08:01

I was not impressed at all. They kept saying that it was a non-profitable event but everything seemed opposite. A small ice cream with nearly 2 scoops was sold for the price of 2 euros. A foreign ice cream such as Magnum is cheaper and product is better!! Milkshake consisted of milk and some crushed strawberres which in my opinion was not pleasant as it was pictured. All the crowdiness was also unbearable...you had to look out if somebody is going to knock you off.

This event continued to prove that everything was disorganised and things were planned hurriedly. Tal-ewwel u l-ahhar!!! Jisirquk haj u tghidilhom Grazzi!!!

I.Cilia

Apr 27th 2009, 07:43

@Mr Borg and all those that complained and will complain...

next year please stay home... it was your choice to come.. what did you expect... no crowds at all?, parking right up to the square?, it is not about getting cheap strawberries at the end of the day.... you know where to go to buy cheap groceries anyway...

I live bang in the main road leading to the square and while i have to admit that it is an inconvenience to me, well i have no choice... I have to get there since i live there of course... it took me the same time to get back to my house, but it was not my choice as it was yours...

however it seems that people like such events, I myself am not a great fan since i do not like crowds, in fact i did not even attend, however one has to applaud such an initiative by my local council, parish and all volounteers.

Allen Galea

Apr 27th 2009, 07:09

It's great to see such success in events such as these. The fact that there was traffic up til Mosta indicates the popularity of these events, otherwise people wouldn't come. I'm all for positive critique but Mr Borg's and Isabelle Agius's comments aren't really beneficial. It's just moaning about an event which was more than a success and which proves more and more popular year after year. Well done to the organisers!!

Michael Scicluna

Apr 26th 2009, 22:14

I wish to say well done to all those whose effort was well spent in organising the Strawberry Festa. I have no doubt it was a success, and the crowds was numerous in taking taking part. I was there too. But to my regret I only managed to make my way trough the crowds to see what was on offer and went on to depart because of the chaotic manner to try and purchase something. This could be better organised the next time around, learning from our comments, and it will make it much better for elderly people to make there way around. I went to the Artichoke Festival in Zabbar and the Chicken Festival in Dingli, the crowds there were numerous too but it was much easier to move and enjoy what was going on and the stalls.

Alfred Cassar

Apr 26th 2009, 22:06

Well done to the organisers of this event. The traffic problem is a result of its own success. Thanks to these people the Maltese are having alternative activities to go on Sunday morning or afternoon. However the organisers should read what people have to say in order to improve on the already popular activity. Unfortunately I didnt make it this time, the traffic was too much and I was already a bit late for the event. Hopefully it will be organised once more next year.

Well done again!!

Albert Debono

Apr 26th 2009, 21:45

It was a big mess of disorganation u can't even walk or to go to the food stalls it should be spread

Joe Cassar

Apr 26th 2009, 21:41

Atitudes like that of Mr Johann Mifsud are not conducive to the achievement of excellence - which should be one of our main aims. Just be grateful when you get something, never mind the quality and don't rock the boat! That is not the ay to move ahead.

- YES, the Strawberry Festival was a good idea and pleasant experience.

- YES, it is an attraction and should become a fixture on the Maltese calendar.

- YES I will definetly attend agan next year.

- But NO, the organisation was far from perfect. The idea of clustering all the stalls on tye church parvis, for example, simply did not work.

- Why were thestrawberries on sale significantly MORE expensive then they were selling at greengrocers' all last week? One would have expected they would be sold at a discount at a "strawberry festival".

I'm sure the organisers will take note of these comments and next year's event will be even more enjoyable than this year's.

marisa pisani

Apr 26th 2009, 21:06

I congratulate the organisers. However one short comment. A shuttle service from Ta' Qali should have been organised to avoid traffic jams. Also the stalls should have been on the road around the church to allow space for the public to enjoy the show. Congrats again and hope these kind of events are organised more often and promoted to attract more tourists to our Island.

JC Mifsud

Apr 26th 2009, 19:49

Why shall we Maltese always moan about everything Mr. Borg? Just thank god that something new is being organized in villages around Malta.

These ideas are giving us Maltese & tourists some places to visit on Sunday's.

Well done to the organizers, after the one in Mdina last week which was excellent this one was the strawberry (cherry) on the cake.

Aaron Grech

Apr 26th 2009, 19:20

A heartfelth 'thank you' to everyone who attended 'Festa Frawli' this year. About 200 volunteers worked tirelessly, many literally day and night, to put up this event. The atmosphere in the parish square was simply unique. I am truly sorry that the event did not meet Mr. J.Borg's expectations. However, right from the first edition, three years ago, the Festival was a roaring success, and through the years, it's popularity grew significantly, with constant coverage from national media. So crowds and traffic are unfortunately, to be expected in such a popular event, although a park and ride was made available and route busses stopped right near the square. The number of stalls and activities was also increased significantly from last year. From my own experience, attendees were having a great time, and gave us positive and encouraging feedback. Again, thanks to all the helpers and volunteers who made this event possible: http://www.lejlamgarrija.com

Isabelle Agius

Apr 26th 2009, 19:15

I fully agree with J. Borg. People were queing at the stalls at 10.00 am for a box of strawberries when the vendors had strict orders to start sales at 11.00 am. This is ridiculous. Surely having seen the success of this event, the organisers should have tried to organise something better and not a chaotic event in front of the church.

J.Borg

Apr 26th 2009, 18:06

What strawberry delight...........apart from taking us about 45 mins to reach Mgarr from the roundabout near Mosta.........
People in Malta seem to flock like birds when there is some activity in Malta.....everybody hurrying to reach the square.....
Then to my surprise......how is it that all the stalls and stand were packed in the church square and not around in the street.....all people jammed and queing first to get tickets and then queing again to get your drink or sweet....
Also, about the strawberries.....people queing to buy them, btw 3 euro a pack, when these could have been bought easily from same price before entering Mgarr.....
Surely these kind of activities can be organised i a better maner and with less hassle to people visiting.
Personally i think that this activity can be organised better if stalls are placed in the street around the church....