Birgu lights up - with candles

Daniel Dimech

Oct 14th 2009, 18:41

Girbin are the people coming from Vittoriosa like the people coming from Mosta are called Mostin or the people of St. Paul's Bay...... Pawlini. Should knowing that as a Maltese citizen.

Joseph Saliba

Oct 13th 2009, 22:07

J. Saliba
From Daniel Dimech's comment, I like to know what he means by 'il Girbin', and also the phrase "proud to be Girbija". It sounds like people from another island. Please explain.

V. Chetcuti

Oct 13th 2009, 18:25

Prosit to all organisers of Birgufest. However, I fail to understand why the area of the Freedom monument was completely left in darkness. Overall, the candles did not provide sufficient light. I enjoyed myself except for an incident which could have turned much worse. While passing from Triq il-Majjistral which was lined with candles on both sides, my long skirt ended up in one of the candles and in a second the skirt was engulfed in flames. Luckily, two friends were quick enough to throw water and the fire was put off immediately. Only part of my left hand was burnt while keeping the burning skirt away from me. A friend who lives in that street helped me inside whilst I recovered from shock. We did not see any St John's Ambulance around. After a couple of hours I had to walk all the way to Bormla where my car was parked and a friend took me to Paola Health Centre, where the nurses informed me that another person was also treated for minor burns. I believe that more care should be taken where candles are laid and an appropriate emergency service is provided.

Daniel Dimech

Oct 12th 2009, 20:26

Proset tassew lic-cittadini Tal-Belt Pittoreska Vittorjosa. Bhala visitatur min naha ta fuq ta Malta ma tistax ma taprezzax u ma tammirax ix-xoghol u l-ghaqda li hadmu biha il-Girbin biex itellghu Avveniment kulturali bhall dan ta kull sena, il-Birgu fest. Iktar u iktar meta tistaqsi u ssir taf li hafna mix xoghol huwa Volontarju u sahansitra li certa residenti johorgu flejjes minn buthom. Inutli tmaqdar u tkun Negattiv ghax dejjem hemm ha jkun hemm nuqqasijiet, pero minn sena ghal sena dejjem sar it-titjib u s-Sabih ma tistax tghidlu ikrah. Proset, keep it up u Grazzi tal-Istedina j'Alla jkun hawn iktar avvenimenti sbieh bhall dawn biex forsi jfakkruna l'gheruq taghna.

Lesley-Ann Gatt

Oct 12th 2009, 19:36

It was incovinient even in our streets when Cospicua organized the boat show regarding the parking, that's life! We residents had a lot of work to do, to organize such an event but at the end, it was very satisfactory. Never in cottonera was seen such a huge crowd. I was very satisfied, and made me prouder to be 'Girbija' when I heard positive comments from people from every part of the Island, even foreigners. Well done for the organizers and thanks for the Visitors. I love Birgu

J Xuereb

Oct 12th 2009, 18:07

Kien weekend tal-genn f'kull sens possibli! Proset lil kull min ha sehem b'xi mod jew iehor! Ili hafna nistaporti imma issa wisq! Hawn uhud minnkom idejjquni minn subghajja ta' saqajja sal-ponta ta' mniehri dejjem tridu taraw x'se tmaqdru u fuqiex se tgergru u tikkummentaw! Mohhkom biex issibu ix-xaghra fl-ghagina f'kull haga. Aghmlu pjacir lilkom stess u lil ta' madwarkom u zommu n-negattivita' kollha li ghandkom ghalikom infuskom.

Andre` Micallef

Oct 12th 2009, 15:58

The Birgu Local Council (esp. Mayor John Boxall) should be commended for putting up the annual Birgufest. On the candlelit evening, the atmosphere was simply magical. I hope that the Rabat and Mdina local councils take up the initiative to jointly organise something along similar lines - a candlelit medieval city and its suburb, with all their myriad attractions (churches, palaces, convents, museums etc.) open to the public, will prove to be an unforgettable attraction. I hope my dream comes true sometime in future.

Mark Galea

Oct 12th 2009, 12:43

I must say a real well done to the organisers of this event, but especially to the people of Birgu themselves. I was quite impressed by their participation in the event. As we walked by the narrow streets, we noticed that most of the houses contributed to the organisation by putting up candles in their homes, windows and balconies. The only problem we had was that there was supposed to be transport by 'dghajsa' from Isla and Valletta. Whilst the Valletta operation was obviously constant, there were only some two boats serving the Isla side, which resulted in massive queues and long waiting to get on the boat to Birgu. We waited some 40 minutes. We later found out that this was because the fares were Eur.1 from Isla and Eur.3 from Valletta, so the dghajsa owners preferred the Valletta route obviously to rake in more cash. Still, having said that, I would certainly visit this event again, and once again, prosit.

Mario Ellul

Oct 12th 2009, 11:53

Well done to the organizers for another fantastic event. May I also thank all the patrons who made use of the snack bar put up at St John's Bastion - the proceeds from the evening will go to a good cause - to finance new equipment for the scout group which occupies the place and provides healthy entertainment to many children from the locality and the outlying districts. @J.Camilleri - on the menu, the Hot Dog, was clearly indicated as being accompanied by CRISPS not Chips and at 3 Eur, it was certainly a fair bargain. However, as stated earlier, I hope that the knowledge that your preciously parted from 3 Eur will fund a worthy cause, will make it more palatable.

Thanks to all and well done to the organizers for another highly successful event.

edward ciantar

Oct 12th 2009, 09:40

I would like to draw the attention of the organizers who put the Fortini football ground for the use of a car park. Well and good. However I must utter my disgust at whoever imposed the €4 parking fee. This was utter daylight ( or should I see candle light) robbery!!! I hope that the local council looks into this and takes control of this situation so that that we will not have a repeat come next year. I am not against a parking charge, but that fee was way out of hand.

On another note, congratulations to all involved starting from the mayor and his council and of course the people of Birgu.

Geert Sciot

Oct 11th 2009, 23:25

As a foreigner sharing my free time between my homecountry Belgium and Birgu, I would like to congratulate the very dynamic mayor John Boxall and the Local Council of Citta Vittoriosa for this wonderful Birgu Feast and Candlelight event.

Birgu lighted up in a wonderful way. 'Our' Birgu is still a hidden gem for many people, even for the Maltese and events like this put the right (spot)(candle)light on the historical beauty of Malta's first Maritime city and previous capital. The Birgu Candlelight event also expresses very nicely how all the inhabitants work together hand in hand to make this a succes.

Prosit to all !

Geert

Pule' Carmel

Oct 11th 2009, 21:23

Respect should have been paid to La Vallette, the other Knights and men who fought during all the sieges that Birgu faced throughout its history and made Birgu what it is today. THE LOUD and TYPE of music played, disturbed the atmosphere that compliments such issues. Paople flock to Birgu because it has an atmoshere of its own. Try not to change it into a common disco by letting insensitive people at the helm of the entertainment controls.
Apart from that Prosit Tasssew. Birgu was my training grounds, it was always beautiful for me even though others thought otherwise . Prosit to all the Vittoriosani. Such occasions are a more dignified manner to support il-Kazini than the gaming machines that filled them.

Lawrence Magrin

Oct 11th 2009, 19:47

First and foremost I would like to congratulate the Mayor Mr. John Boxall and all organizing committee of BirguFest.

This years Birgufest catered for most types of musical tastes with violinists and similar unplugged musicians. It was very very clear that after people toured the various candle lit streets, the majority gathered in the main square to be entertained by one of Malta's popular bands New Cuorey. I watched and listened to them till the very end and they did a remarkable fantastic job most especially when the propability is that they reunited the band again just for this occassion, after more than a decade that the band had been disbanded.

The New Cuorey proved that they are still in the hearts of the Maltese after their various succesful hit songs in our native tongue. The singers, Ludwig, Giorgina, J Anvil, Claudia, The Bartolos singers, and all the rest ( Sorry I cannot remember all the names) made the evening very entertaining. I also liked the voice of the singer from Gozo even though she had some technical problems in her micropohone during her performance.

Well done.,

J.Camilleri

Oct 11th 2009, 18:38

"Birgu lights up- with candles". People burnt up with prices.
Parking your car-4 Eur.
Hot dog with crips-3 Eur. {on the menu of a snack bar in St.John's Bastion it was to be hot dog with chips.
Can of beer-2.5 Eur.
Glass of wine-3 Eur.
Birgu is much more beautiful in daylight.

joyce aquilina

Oct 11th 2009, 16:33

@edwin abeladin mhux ghijra ghax jien lanqas jekk isiru go bormla ma mur ghal dawn l-affarijiet imma trid tametti li bormla trid tkun ghalijkom biex torganizaw dawn il kif ghed tejd int successighax x-imkien iridu jipparkjaw in nies

Stephen Farrugia

Oct 11th 2009, 14:57

And one last thing... birgu SHOULD be like that EVERYDAY!!!

Stephen Farrugia

Oct 11th 2009, 14:56

About parking - It's a problem everywhere, get a garage

About music - Music advanced since the 1800's ... Imagine , if someone complained to bethooven not to play the piano, and let the guy with the Lute play... Then, we would have clapped our hands to a guy playing a 1000 year old instrument!

Unplugged modern-age instruments are for closed environments, for open ones there is a need for sound... and lets be honest., after 5 months of "festi" and "kuncerti" ... I don't think we DESPERATELY needed to hear another brass band

C. Lia

Oct 11th 2009, 14:29

Meta nara affarijiet bhal dawn nithassar lil Poplu Malti ghax vera qiesna qatt ma rajna xejn. Naghmlu LEJL IMDAWWAL u niffullaw, gimgha wara naghmlu LEJL IMDALLAM u niffullaw ukoll. Mela qabel konna ngergru meta jinqata d-dawl u nispiccaw nieklu ghad-dawl tax-xemgha u llum ghax post jitfi d-dwal u jitfa ftit tuzzani xemghat erhilna niffullaw u nifirhu. Mbaghad jekk riedu jaghtu dehra antika u mudlama x'sens ghamel il-palk u l-muzika storbjuza?

Pero la hawn min joghgbuh ma hemmx x'taghmel, nissuggerixxi lill-Gvern biex jiehu nota ta` min kien hemm u flok bozoz jaghthom xemghat b'xejn u jaqtalhom id-dawl tad-djar taghhom, xejn xejn nghinu l-ambjent.

Generoso Seychell

Oct 11th 2009, 13:30

The atmosphere was fanastic.The scene was very real to those days.keep it up.

edwin Abela

Oct 11th 2009, 13:16

@ Joyce Aquilina

Is-soltu lanzit tal-Bormlizi! Kull darba li l-Kunsill habrieki tal-Birgu jorganizza xi haga ta' success (u l-Birgufest ta' din is-sena kien SUCCESSUN!) il-Bormlizi, bl-ghira solita taghhom, dejjem jaraw kif se jfittxu x-xaghra fl-ghagin. Prosit lill-Kunsill kollu tal-Birgu u prosit misthoqq lill-Girbin kollha li dejjem jaghtu sehmhom bi hgarhom

Anthony Debono

Oct 11th 2009, 13:04

@Saviour Coleiro
I agree...and would also add a big prosit to (practically) all Vittoriosa residents' contribution for keeping their facades only lit with candles. That's what I call teamwork !!

@Victor Pulis
I agree.

@all & BirguFest organisers
In life there's always room for improvement, e.g.
- organise more buses directly to Birgu, to minimise use of private transport and eventual congestion
- restrain hawkers from selling out-of-scope products (balloons, emergency lights, round light rings)
- make use of more fjakkoli than candles in red plastic (reminds me of religious functions)
- limit the size of hawkers stands as they protrude, coupled with the people around them, produce quite a bottleneck in the already narrow streets
- make use of more open space, and not concentrate only on the pjazza.
- some backdrops (e.g. powerpoint presentations and/or video) of Birgu's history throughout the Great Siege and maybe also during the 2nd world war. That would be an interesting history lesson to all people visiting.

Looking forward to attend next year's.

Dylan Olliver

Oct 11th 2009, 13:04

Joyce Aquilina, sour grapes !!!

R. Cutajar

Oct 11th 2009, 12:59

Wow how beautiful. From an almost no-go-zone of a few years ago Vittoriosa has put itself in the middle of any tourist map.

J.Camilleri

Oct 11th 2009, 11:19

Is there a way that parking problems should be avoided if only there will be shuttle services on such events to avoid traffic jams. Being such a small island this is one of the most important thing that needs to be organised especially every weekend going to paceville. There were times that shuttles used to run from Luxol grounds to avoid all traffic jams to that route. Something similar would be ideal to other routes.

victor pulis

Oct 11th 2009, 10:34

Agree with vfarrugia. loud, modern music has no place in such an event. Why must we always fall on the same sort of 'entertainment' whatever the occasion? The Birgu fest should concentrate on the atmosphere the place evokes which has an almost medieval setting. traditional music using traditional instruments should be encouraged. Traditional costumes better crowd management to avoid the experience turning into a nightmare. More reenactments which are updated from year to year, more torches instead of candles which hardly cast any light making it difficult to see what's going on. And please no modern fancy toys for sale as I mentioned in the comment below. They give the festival such a kitsch feel.

J.Grech

Oct 11th 2009, 10:33

it would have been better if the music was not so loud. I think the music should have been softer and related to folklore and history.

JOe Galea

Oct 11th 2009, 10:16

Next time pls organise public transport from towns and villages direct to Birgu, this will lessen the traffic and parking problem. Many are dicouraged to attend these events due to this.

vfarrugia

Oct 11th 2009, 09:56

I'd like to try to understand what is so romantic about having a huge stage blaring very loud music, right in the middle of the piazza. Wouldn't it have been nicer if the local band club set up their plancier and gave a brass concert instead?! Why do we have to have concerts with huge powerful speakers, in such a small confined space?

Let us have more roving musicians, more 'unplugged' instruments please, and less amplifiers!

joyce aquilina

Oct 11th 2009, 09:54

and for us Cospicua residents it was a nightmare to find parking on our streets,Mr Boxol should come with a bright idea before organising such an event or else the Cospicua council should be compensated

victor pulis

Oct 11th 2009, 09:48

The idea of lighting Birgu with candles and fjakkoli is a good idea but I'm afraid the very reason this is being done, that is to attract people is defeating its purpose. The thousands of visitors thronging every street and alley in the city makes it almost impossible to move let alone take in the magical atmosphere. Another thing that really irked me was the selling of balloons and flourescent bracelets which have nothing whatsoever in common with the atmosphere the organisers must have aimed for. One has to be careful he event doesn't turn into just another Maltese festa. I regard Birgu as Mdina by the sea. These two attributes should be more fully exploited to make this event a truly unique one

Saviour Coleiro

Oct 11th 2009, 08:46

prosett lil Sindku Johny Boxol u kunsill tal bierah sibt. Qatt ma ra nies daqshekk il Birgu.Ahna VITTORJIOSANI ghanda biex niftahhru li gejjin min dak il post .PROSETT