Nature and technical problems forced the two rival band clubs in Ħamrun to work together to ensure the feast of St Cajetan would not be derailed over the weekend.
“Although there is a certain rivalry between us, when the storm hit [on Saturday], we worked together and cooperated well to avoid any difficulties,” Louis Cuschieri, president of St Joseph Band Club, said.
Still, little cooperation was evident yesterday as supporters of the two major band clubs, decked out in traditional blue and red, gleefully hurled insults at each other from opposite ends of Ħamrun’s High Street.
But Mr Cuschieri recalled how, just a day earlier, the two sets of supporters all raced to recover each other’s street decorations and repair damage caused by the brief but ferocious August storm.
The unexpected weather wreaked havoc with the feast decorations, damaging hung banners and canopies as well as papier-mâché statues.
Celebrations had already suffered a blow the previous day when Ħamrun was struck by a widespread power failure, forcing several establishments to close shop and potentially miss out on thousands of euros in sales.
“There was a lot of damage but, yesterday, the parish priest asked for the help of all Ħamruniżi and it’s clear that everyone took up the call,” Mr Cuschieri said yesterday.
At the other end of the divide, Ansel Sciberras, president of the St Cajetan Band Club, kept his game face on when discussing the bad fortune of the previous days. “Our feast programme started two weeks ago and finishes in five minutes’ time,” he said, his voice all but drowned out by the morning band march. “Nothing affected us, not the power cut and not the storm. Everything was planned from A to Z and carried out successfully.”
Mr Sciberras lamented the damage to the feast decorations, the scale of which is not yet fully known, but praised the way the festivities went on undampened.
“When the lights went out, everyone turned on the lights on their mobiles and carried on,” he said, smiling. While other feast-goers said there were some fears that the power cut could lead to tension between the two sides to spill over, Mr Sciberras said the underlying mood was always positive. “Despite everything that’s said and the differences between us, we’ve always worked together well. This is one of the largest feasts in Malta and, without doubt, a great one.”