San Girgor is being celebrated by hundreds of people in Marsaxlokk today - but nobody seems to be swimming.

The feast, celebrated on the first Wednesday after Easter, came late this year but the weather was still unkind, with a chill in the air, a grey sky and the occasional shower discouraging the traditional first swim of the season.

Many people descended on Marsaxlokk to mill around the open market, enjoy tombola and munch on hobz biz-zejt.

The procession at Zejtun was cancelled due to the weather conditions but the usual Mass at the old Parish Church of St Catherine known as St Gregory's Church was celebrated by the Cathedral Cantor.

The tradition goes back to 1543 when the first procession of San Girgor was held in Zejtun as a prayer for Christian unity. However, some argue that it goes back further, to 1519, and was a ceremony of thanksgiving by survivors of the plague which swept over Malta.

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