Confetti glided through sun-lit streets yesterday as the contrasting chilly breeze swept the paper fragments over the crowds that gathered in a number of towns and villages for the traditional Easter Sunday processions.

Locals and tourists thronged the streets to witness the annual religious spectacle as statues of the Risen Christ were carried through parish streets to mark the Catholic Church's biggest feast.

Bells chimed after Lent's 40 days of sobriety, fasting and personal sacrifices were brought to an end with celebrations that included the exchange of Easter greetings, figolli and Easter eggs.

Children played in the confetti-carpeted streets and enjoyed wading through the piles of crisp, shredded paper.

The merry celebrations were echoed throughout the island as processions were held in The Three Cities (Cospicua, Vittoriosa and Senglea), Għargħur, Gżira, Mosta, Naxxar, Paola, Qormi, Rabat, Valletta, Żebbuġ and Żejtun.

In Gozo processions were held in Kerċem, Nadur, Qala, Victoria, Xagħra and Żebbuġ (Fontana's procession will take place on Sunday).

In Cospicua, the entertaining century-old tradition surrounding the Easter celebrations was maintained.

Men in white robes carried the statue of the Risen Christ shoulder-high around the narrow streets of the city and at various points in the procession, young men ran with the statue through the crowd, raising it triumphantly at the end of each run.

The statue represents Christ rising majestically out of his tomb with the branch of a palm tree in his hand and a decorative tombstone beneath Him.

The statue, said to be the work of an unknown Baroque Spanish sculptor, is carved in wood and was brought to Cospicua in 1741 from Naples by a certain Captain Andrea Scarinu. The tombstone was redesigned by Abram Gatt and covered in silver by Casa Ranchi of Milan in 1926.