This year's Valletta Pageant of the Seas promises to be a unique spectacle in the Grand Harbour with 1000 artists taking part in the event, the Valletta 2018 Foundation said on Monday.

Valletta 2018 chairman Jason Micallef said the Pageant promises to be a “flagship” event of V18.

The event would be split into daytime and nighttime events.

The daytime events will include a  regatta, and other races .

The pageant will also see Għawma Toni Bajada, a major swimming activity involving hundreds of people. It is named after a Maltese hero of the Great Siege of 1565.

At night, Grand Harbour will be transformed into a stage with a show based on Malta’s neolithic history on “one of the largest barges” that ever entered the harbour.

“The harbour will become an extension of a theatre and a stage,” Mr Micallef added

The event will take place on June 7, a public holiday, and will include a show by La Fura Dels Baus.

The Spanish team took part in the opening of Valletta 2018 in January with a performance at the Tritons Fountain Square.

This will be an exceptional show and it should be a natural addition to people’s calendar of events, Mr Micallef said.

Mr Micallef thanked numerous organizations including the Transport Ministry, the maritime industry and the Civil Protection Department for the logistical works.

Speaking at the Upper Barakka Gardens, director Mario Philip Azzopardi said the event presented logistical challenges but that the result would be spectacular show.

Justice minister Owen Bonnici said the harbour would be used as a backdrop for what is set out to be a “major cultural event in Malta’s history”.

Parliamentary secretary for V18 Deo Debattista encouraged people to attend the event.

He also noted that 38,000 people visited the Valletta Green Festival and a record number of schools visited the event.