Notte Bianca will take place on October 3 in Valletta with organisers promising a wider than ever range of events as the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Artistic director Sean Buhagiar said this year’s edition of the festival, which drew 60,000 people last year, would place more emphasis than ever on events in the lower end of the capital.
Mr Buhagiar said the focus on the often-neglected streets around Fort St Elmo would open the area to more visitors and align with the festival’s principle of working hand-in-hand with the community.
The announcement was made yesterday at the recently restored St Mary Magdalene Church at the lower end of Merchants Street.
The church, which until recently served as a storage garage for carnival floats, will be open to the public for the first time during Notte Bianca for a choral concert
Close by, the Kamrata housing block will come alive with a series of dynamic performance sketches featuring handmade puppets and devised in collaboration with the residents of the block.
Events will also be held at Fort St Elmo and the Mediterranean Conference Centre, while the nearby ring road will play host to an exhilarating display of professional drifting stunts and four-wheeled showmanship.
Valletta 2018 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef said it was important for the annual event to focus on leaving a concrete cultural legacy in years to come.
He said events would extend throughout the city and outwards to Porte des Bombes in Floriana. An innovative traditional cooking event, in collaboration with renowned chefs David Darmanin and Nicole Pisani, will be held at Castille Square.
Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said Notte Bianca had established itself as a unique opportunity for emerging artists and for the general public to “reclaim” areas of Valletta that are usually closed off.
As in previous years, churches, museums and other spaces will be open to visitors until the early hours of the morning.
“The goal of the festival used to be to attract the public to Valletta, but now people don’t need any encouragement,” he said.
“Today, Valletta is actually better recognised abroad than Malta itself, so in that sense we can say, mission accomplished.”