School-children experience Mediterranean Folk

The sound of folk music and children’s laughter echoed through The Argotti gardens in Floriana this morning as pupils from five schools across Malta were given a hands-on experience of this weekend’s music at Għanafest.

Għanafest, Malta’s annual Mediterranean folk-fest festival that is organised by the Malta Council for Culture and Arts, kicked off this morning with a special activity aimed for school-children between Grade 5 and Form 1.

This morning’s event started with a lesson in Prejjem, a guitar-based sequence used for a specific type of għana; children later were given the opportunity to try out their newly-found musical skill on stage together with the seasoned għannejja.

The għannejja’s mettle was also put to the test with a  spirtu pront session;

the pupils came up with particular topics for the folk musicians to sing about, with the latter composing related verses on the spot.

As can be expected, football – particularly the Juventus team – turned out to be a popular topic, together with lessons and playtime.

“The idea behind this event is to expose the pupils to genuine, traditional Maltese folk music. With the younger ones there is still a sense of mystic surrounding għana and the various forms of folk music and this goes a long way to dispel it in a fun manner that today’s generation will enjoy experiencing,” said Sarah-Lee Zammit, Arts Marketing Executive for the Malta Council for Culture and Arts.

The festival continues all weekend at The Argotti Gardens, Floriana, with events starting at 7 p.m. Another children’s programme, including Maltese games like passju, boċċi, rope-skipping and passju as well as a hands-on session with Maltese instruments, will be held at 8 p.m.

Besides a number of folk-singing sessions, various Maltese and foreign bands will also take part in the festival, including the Jamal Ouassini Ensemble from Morocco; Greekadelia from Greece, Zoobazar from Turkey and Hamam, an international collective that includes Maltese, Italian and Turkish musicians.

For a detailed programme visit www.maltafolkmusicfestival.org/