Parliamentary Secretary for Culture José Herrera this afternoon pressed local councils to be more innovative and to boost the quality of the events and festivals they organise, to better reflect V18.
Dr Herrera handed out commitment documents to a number of local councils and regional committees, promising financial assistance.
The allocated funds total €250,000.
Dr Herrera commended a number of councils for their festivals including Żejt iż-Żejtun, the Fireworks Festival, Military Mtarfa, Medieval Mdina, Milk Festival, Casal Fornaio,F esta tal-Frawli, Irkotta Fest, the Chocolate Festival and Festa tal-Fjuri.
Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella urged local councils to organise events which actively engage people and which are informative and educational.
He appealed to local councils to not confine their events to the summer but to also organise events in winter and in the shoulder months.
He also suggested that rather than having activities which lasted a weekend or, at most, a week, local councils should look at creating something of more permanence.
For instance, the minister continued, rather than just having a fish festival, local councils could consider building a museum on fishing techniques of the locality and thereby offer a tourist attraction all year round.
For the first time, all activities 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.
The local councils whose projects have been approved for funding are: Valletta, Mdina, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Qormi, Żabbar, Siġġiewi, Żejtun, Rabat, Balzan, Birkirkara, Birżebbuġa, Dingli, Fgura, Floriana, Gudja, Għargħur, Għasri, Għaxaq,
Iklin, Kalkara, Kerċem, Kirkop, Luqa, Marsa, Marsascala, Mellieħa, Mġarr, Mosta, Mqabba, Msida, Munxar, Nadur, Naxxar, Paola, Pietà, Qala, Qrendi, Safi, San Ġiljan, Santa Luċija, Santa Venera, Tarxien, Xagħra, Xewkija, Xgħajra, Żurrieq,
Gozo Regional Committee, Santa Luċija Administrative Committee, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Administrative Committee and Bubaqra Administrative Committee.