The traditional Maltese festa was celebrated in Malta's capital on Saturday as part of the Valletta 2018 programme.

Four invited bands gathered outside their assigned churches - St Paul, St Augustine, St Dominic and Our Lady of Mount Carmel - just before 6pm to salute the titular statues as they exited the church.

The statues, accompanied by their bands, were carried to St George’s Square where a celebration and a moment of prayer incorporated the four feasts. The prayers were led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

The statues, along with the bands, then started making their way through Republic Street to City Gate.

A pyrotechnic show is currently being held in the Fort St Elmo area.

Later, the statues will be taken to Freedom Square before they are returned to their churches.

The bands taking part were La Valette and King’s Own of Valletta, Beland of Żejtun, and Queen Victoria of Żurrieq.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.