Miley Cyrus waves Malta flag during concert

It had to be a Maltese flag that drew the singer’s attention during her concert in Zurich last Saturday.

Two keen Maltese fans of Miley Cyrus managed to squeeze themselves front of stage and hand out their country’s national flag, only for the international star to grab and wave at the roaring crowd in front of her.

MaltaVillageHolidays promotes Maltese village life, heritage in Estonia

Religious village traditions, colourful festas, and fishermen were featured alongside UNESCO World Heritage temples and cities that gem the Maltese islands, in an article published on Reisijuht.ee.

The Estonian portal part of the Delfi.ee group has featured the Maltese Islands prominently on its online travel publication. The article recommends the top 10 places to visit in Malta and Gozo.

Full article here: http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisijutud/10-soovitust-kohalikult-eestlaselt-mida-esimest-korda-maltal-vaadata.d?id=68741901

Certificate of Excellence to 7 Malta Sites

Seven  sites on Malta have just received a Certificate of Excellence for 2014 by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site.

The National War Museum, Ġgantija Temples, Ħaġar Qim Temples, Mnajdra Temples, Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Malta Maritime Museum and St. Paul’s Catacombs have received the award which is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor.

As stated in the official website www.tripadvisor.com, “Winners of the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website, with only the top 10 percent receiving the prestigious award.” This means that these four Heritage Malta sites have constantly featured as top attractions by those who visited them.

To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travellers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months of the year in question.

For more information regarding these seven award winning sites one may visit Heritage Malta’s official website www.heritagemalta.org

[alerts title=”Read more…” type=”info”]How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites are there in Malta?[/alerts]

The Changing Face of Folk

There is the music of course – a varied programme of foreign and local acts which this year will revolve around the gypsy theme, with bands from Spain, Croatia and Israel. And there is the gћana – in turn soulful or comical – but always heartfelt, which comes pouring from the stage. And then there is the ambience, too, the beautiful Argotti Gardens, decked with lights and life, providing a fairytale setting to the tunes, old and new, filling the air.

But perhaps the real reason which makes Gћanafest one of Malta’s fastest-growing festivals is the atmosphere: friendly and relaxed, families, young and not-so-young will feel equally at home here. Local artisans work at their crafts before your eyes, and will often chattily explain how they are made. This year, there’s a children’s workshop on tberfil too – the decorative painted lettering often found on the old buses which is rapidly dying out.

Yet despite its increasing popularity, the festival is still intimate enough for details to be curated lovingly. Even the food is carefully picked to a theme: no commercial entities are in sight: you are likelier to find pastizzi, imqaret and all things traditionally Maltese, making this festival – devoted to music, food and crafts – much more than just a series of concerts.

In such a setting, folk music can flourish. Folk’s power lies in its telling of simple stories, the stirring tunes, the stunning rich voices – and this year’s Gћanafest – which will run from 30 May to 1 June with a gypsy/klezmer music theme – promises plenty of all of those. The festival, which is supported by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government, is organised under the auspices of Fondazzjoni Ċelebrazzjonijiet Nazzjonali (FCN) in collaboration with Valletta 2018 Foundation.

BGKO – Ghanafest 2014Foreign bands include BGKO (Barcelona Gypsy Klezmer Orchestra), an ever growing family of professional musicians and singers that are often invited for guest appearances. As musicians and singers from Turkey, Slovenia, Switzerland, England, Russia, Serbia, India, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Iran and Israel gave their contribution to the never-ending story, the BGKO brought Klezmer, Gipsy and Balkan music to all generations of Barcelona. Musical band Cinkuši has been playing ethno music for many years, combining their Kajkavian roots and heritage with contemporary trends using many different songwriters and lyrics from sources such as Croatian writer Miroslav Krleža, Joško Božanić, Carmina Burana, The Book of Genesis all the way to the clichés that stir collective emotions. Cinkuši’s music has been included in prestigious foreign and national song collections and the band has collaborated on numerous theatre and film projects. Cinkuši received an award for the best original music at the 13th Days of Croatian Cinema and they were the subject of a documentary by Croatian National Television. Cinkuši’s third album Spiritus Sanctus won the Croatian music award Porin in the category of best ethnic (world music) album of the year.

Ramzailech from Israel will play on Sunday; their formula is simple and highly effective: an unstoppable live act, band members that head-dive right into the crowd, hora-circles and mosh pits of happy people and hardcore klezmer music everywhere. Ramzailech carried the hardcore-klezmer gospel overseas to Europe and even Asia with the spicy mixture of rock, Yiddish, English, Arab, Hebrew and hardcore Klezmer. They will play at Gћanafest 2014 with the support of the Israeli embassy.

The Maltese bands, too, bring their own specific brand of contemporary folk rooted in tradition. From Mistura and Frank O’Neill on Friday night to Kantilena on Sunday night, these bands all bring a focus on the Maltese language and contemporary folk. The qarċilla, too – the wedding parody which was revived for this year’s Carnival – will make a return to this year’s Gћanafest, accompanied by a musical element, on Saturday evening.

Of course Gћanafest remains the biggest local showcase of gћana, offering a unique opportunity to experience the different styles of Maltese folk music. Simple but heartfelt, folk music is often about stories – from the personal to the universal, from the ancient to the modern, and gћana is particularly suited to this type of storytelling. As with gypsy folk music, there is a raw intensity which seems to pour out of a collective soul. Set against the beautiful setting of the Argotti Gardens, with its timeless themes, stirring tunes and rich voices, this is a festival that will not leave you unmoved.

The Festival will be held on 30 May-1 June at 7pm, Argotti Gardens, Floriana – within walking distance from Valletta. Tickets: €3 and €7 for a three-day block ticket available at the door.

www.maltafolkmusicfestival.org

This is where plastic people come from

Most of us have fond memories of these small plastic people with which we played for long hours in our childhood years. Few know that the world renowned Playmobil toy marks 40 years and that since day one, these little plastic toys were produced in Malta.

The Playmobil production started in 1974 with just 3 models, and today still entertains children from all over the world with almost 4,000 different plastic people.

Hit like to watch the feature video

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[alerts title=”MaltaVillageHolidays Recommends” type=”info”]Adjacent to the factory in Hal Far, enjoy an afternoon with your children at the Playmobil FunPark.[/alerts]

Wizz Air to fly Sofia – Malta

The low cost airline Wizz Air will start flights between the Bulgarian capital, Sofia and Malta in June.  The flights will be on Mondays and Fridays and tickets are already on sale.

NIKI flies Vienna – Malta, and celebrates with original cake

NIKI, the Austrian based subsidiary of airberlin, added a new link to its European offering during the course of last week. On 30 March, the carrier inaugurated thrice-weekly flights on the 1,373-kilometre sector from Vienna (VIE) to Malta (MLA), which will be operated utilising its 112-seat E190s. Competition on this airport pair is provided by Air Malta with daily flights.

Commenting on the route launch, Markus Klaushofer, CEO, Malta Airport, said: “Traffic between Malta and Austria is constantly on the rise, with a 12.5% growth in this market registered last year. We are very happy to welcome NIKI, which was previously owned by the three times F1 World Champion Niki Lauda, to our ever growing family of airlines which will enable us to further develop our route network and secure better connectivity for the Maltese islands.”

Hit Like to view the video of the celebration cake…

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Comunicati i nuovi voli diretti Parma-Malta

La linea aerea Air Malta ha cominicato una nuovo rotta dal nord Italia. Voli diretti tra la l’aeroporto Giuseppe Verdi (PMF) e la isola di Malta cominceranno dal 2 giugno.

L’aeroporto Parmese e il 14o aeroporto nell’nord da dove si può raggiungere l’isola. Infatti si puo volare anche da Ancona, Firenze, Pisa, Bologna, Parma, Genova, Torino, Villafranca, Venezia, Trieste, Linate, Malpensa, Bergamo e Lugano.

 

Celebrating St Patrick’s day in Malta

St. Patrick’s Day is no longer just an Irish event. During recent years the celebrations of St. Patrick – people participating in the parades, singing and dancing to Irish music, making Irish jokes and Irish toasts – have gained tremendous popularity around the world,  including on Malta.

As the Irish would say, “On St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish so why not to join us?”

Indeed, following the success of the St. Patrick’s celebrations in the Maltese Capital City Valletta last year, the Irish Maltese Circle  with several other organisations has decided to join the forces to organise another great event on Sunday 16th March 2014 at 11:45.

The Parade will leave from the City Gate of Valletta.

[alerts title=”More info” type=”info”]http://irishmaltesecircle.org.mt/1323/st-patricks-day-parade-2014/[/alerts]