Local councils’ involvement in organising events and festivals that reflect Malta’s V-18 commitment is still “far from what we’d like it to be”, according to Culture Parliamentary Secretary José Herrera.
While he lauded the quality of a number of festivals organised on a local and national scale by several councils, Dr Herrera called for more innovation, creativity and higher quality events.
Valletta European Capital of Culture 2018, he continued, did not only involve the capital but all local councils. He reminded those present that V-18 was preceded by a string of international events, such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2015 and Malta’s EU Presidency in 2017.
Malta required good infrastructure and top quality cultural activities to prove the country was as capable as others in carrying out its commitments.
He also commended a number of festivals, including Żejt iż-Żejtun, the Fireworks Festival, Festa tal-Frawli, the Chocolate Festival, Casal Fornaio, Notte a Casal Paola, Medieval Medina Festival, Military Mtarfa Festival, Irkotta Fest and Festa tal-Fjuri.
Together with Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella, Dr Herrera handed out envelopes to some 48 councils and four administrative committees containing the government’s commitment to foot a percentage of the costs to organise local and national events.
The allocated funds total €250,000 and the scheme is supported by the government and the Malta Tourism Authority.
Mr Vella encouraged the participation of artists, craftsmen and organisations.
He urged councils to organise events which actively engaged people and which were informative and educational. This would serve to boost economic and commercial activity.
He also suggested the collaboration of multiple councils in organising events such as a food festival, where different localities could manage a specific aspect such as olive oil, fish and strawberries.
“We want to draw more tourists of quality and therefore need more products of quality.”
He appealed to councils to not confine their events to summer but to also organise events in winter and in the shoulder months to help boost economic activity.
He also suggested that rather than having activities which lasted a weekend or, at most, a week, councils should look at creating something of more permanence.
For instance, the minister continued, rather than just having a fish festival, a council could consider building a museum on fishing techniques of the locality and thereby provide a touristic attraction all year round.
For the first time, all the festivals will be monitored and a report will be drawn up to assess the quality of the events. The report would serve to better inform the board tasked with approving applications.