L-Għid tal-Erwieħ will be reenacted at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa, highlighting popular traditions and beliefs related to souls and the afterlife.

Heritage Malta said the event will include the traditional supper served during the month of November to remember the dead. This traditional meal was based on the ħanżira tal-erwieħ - a custom where the Maltese feasted on a pig that during the previous weeks would have been let loose in the streets. This pig would have been given scraps of food from entire neighbourhoods. Then on All Soul’s Day be then slaughtered, cooked and fed to the poor.

Also served will be the maħluta, a bittersweet drink recalling the ups
and downs in life, ftieti tal-għaża (toasted bread with garlic and parsley), kawlata
(vegetable soup with pork), and l-għadam tal-mejtin a bone shaped almond-based sweet.

Participants will also have the opportunity to delve into a representative sample
from a collection of memorial cards which was recently donated to Heritage Malta by Alfred Calleja. This collection of memorial cards runs into thousands and
some date back to the early 20th century, recalling individuals from all walks of life.

Those who consider themselves brave enough can spend the night in
one of the 17th century cells at the Inquisitor’s Palace. Participants opting for the sleep over need to provide their own sleeping bags and torches.

L-Għid tal-Erwieħ will be held in Maltese on Friday November 3. Tickets, at  €30 and €28 for Heritage Malta Mmembers, are available from Heritage Malta sites and museums or online, http://shop.heritagemalta.org/
For more information one can call on 21663731 or visit Heritage Malta wesbite,
or the Inquisitor’s Palace facebook page.