The Maltese village festa is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and July is when you really feel why. Almost every town holds a festa, so on most summer weekends at least one village is mid-celebration with band marches, illuminated churches, street food and fireworks. 

One thing worth knowing before you head out: the feast day is the saint’s date in the religious calendar, but the festa weekend is when the village actually celebrates. When the feast day falls midweek, the processions, band marches and fireworks shift to the nearest weekend, so turning up on the calendar date alone can mean missing the main events entirely. Each festa offers something very different!