The government has sidelined a total of Lm300,000 for the organisation of the Isle of MTV – Malta Special music festival on the Floriana Granaries next month.

The music festival will take place on 26 July and will see world-renowned singer Enrique Iglesias, Maroon 5 and Akon in Malta, apart from local talents including Ira Losco, and DJs Toni Toni, Pierre Cordina, Ruby, Miss Roberta, Joseph Armani and J Joy.

The music festival will be broadcast on MTV station which has a viewership of about 130 million people around the world.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the festival is one of the largest ever organised in Malta and is expected to be attract around 20,000 on the granaries. He said it will also serve as an attraction for tourists who will be in Malta at the time and will also be a promotion of Malta. The entrance to the festival is free of charge.

He said that recent surveys have shown that around seven per cent more tourists visited Malta in the first quarter this year when compared to the same period last year, amounting to nearly 174,500 tourists, making it the largest number of tourists visiting Malta between January and March in the last five years.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that while these tourists spent 3.5 per cent less nights in Malta, their contribution to the local economy was, comparatively, nearly 10 per cent more.

He said that in view of the importance of the promotion Malta will be receiving as a result of this festival, the government is contributing EUR400,000 towards its organisation and a further EUR300,000 will be spent on adverts promoting Malta on the popular music television station.