From the vast crowd which thronged Grand Harbour, only those aged 50 or over could remember anything as historic: the night Malta became independent in 1964.

The crowds that invaded Valletta and the Grand Harbour area, who walked for miles or waited interminably for buses both before and after the event, who stood patiently waiting for an event that lasted, at most, 40 minutes, assisted at a celebration well worth the hassle.

The light and laser show put on to mark Malta’s accession to the EU was well worth it.

The night, clear with just a breeze that grew cold in exposed areas as night advanced, with a clear moon and stars shining, contributed to the success of the event, considering the blustery weather and rain squalls of the preceding days.

Crowds made their way to Valletta from early evening, eager to gain every advantage spot to watch the show.

At around 8.30pm huge crowds started to gather at the various bus termini, mindful of what they were urged to do: use public transport.

However, public transport proved to be inadequate to the demand. One could see people walking all the way to Valletta from Birkirkara, Msida, Marsa, Hamrun.

Later on, all the people waiting on bus stops were ferried to Valletta.

Despite this hiccup, people were good natured and orderly.

The bands and singers playing on the four stages set up around Grand Harbour kept the crowd happy while kiosks and bars did a roaring trade and long queues formed outside each mobile toilet.

Dotted around the Valletta side of Grand Harbour, a number of parties given by corporate sponsors, were in full swing, their entrance rigidly controlled by security people. The juxtaposition of people milling around the streets and the guests enjoying what the people outside could not have: space, food and drink, could have been problematic but such was the people’s good nature that no tension ensued.

As time went by, more people used their cars to get to Valletta. Despite all the precautions suddenly taken by the authorities on the eve, with yellow double lines painted all the way from Marsa to Valletta, people just parked haphazardly, sometimes blocking the passage of buses and other cars.

After the traffic jams, there were people jams: at the lower end of Crucifix Hill and on the other side of the Customs House tunnel at the junction between the road leading to the Victoria Gate and the one leading to the Siege Bell.

There are few bars on that side of Valletta but they did huge business as people milled around and bought drinks.

On top of the Victoria Gate one came across a surprising sight: the whole flight of steps next to the Ta’ Giezu church to St Paul Street was occupied by people sitting down and resting their tired legs, drinking and chatting away, even though they can’t have been in a position to see anything from there.

Right at the top of the hill, the government was giving its own party at the newly refurbished Upper Barakka.

Over the past days, the invitations to this party had become, in Bunuel’s terms, the “hidden object of desire” of many, who did all they could, legal and illegal, to get invited to this mother of all parties, given the location and the magnificient views of Grand Harbour one can enjoy from the balcony.

It then transpired that while students at the university were heard bragging they had an invitation, other people who felt they should have been invited, found out they were not.

Among the later category of “forgotten” guests, were editors of newspapers, although their journalists were invited. The most angry were people from the Foreign Office, especially those who had worked hard to prepare for accession and found that the two persons at the Office of the Prime Minister (not on Dr Gonzi’s staff) who issued the invitations, had ommitted to invite them. When they protested, they were told they could enter if they accepted to work on Accession Night. They obviously refused and stayed at home.

At the end, however, security was not all that tight as people without an invitation still got in on the nod from one of the police officers at the door.

One could then make some delicious discoveries among the invited guests, such as Mrs George Borg Olivier who doubtlessly remembered Independence Night when she graced the centre stage with Lady Dorman. Another guest from Independence days was former Chief Justice Professor J. J. Cremona

The long wait came to an end at 11.40pm when a solitary firework announced the beginning of the slide show on the bastions of Fort St Angelo.

The commentary kept repeating: “In … minutes you will become a Maltese citizen and a citizen of Europe” while slides showed La Vallette, Napoleon, the Pope, and Ludwig and Julie with their Grand Harbour song.

This was followed a commendable rendering of the Ode to Joy, the EU anthem (from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony). With minutes to midnight, emotions ran high when the national anthem was sung by Miriam Gauci and Joseph Calleja, welcomed at the end with rapturous applause from the huge crowd.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi then appeared on the St Angelo bastions to state: “This evening I am proud to be a Maltese in Malta and a Maltese in Europe”. This was followed by a rapid countdown to midnight when Gert Hof’s much awaited laser show began.

It is difficult to describe in words the show: the many spotlights placed on the foreshore of St Angelo and on the ramparts of the fort provided an accompaniment in light to the music of a new opera by Roger Waters, punctuated by perfectly synchronised bursts of fireworks.

A nice touch was provided by the juxtaposition of the colours of the fireworks and the colours used by the spotlights, showing the painstaking preparations that must have gone into this project.

An even nicer touch was the launching of a fleet of small boats with pennants floating across Grand Harbour from the Customs House side to Fort San Angelo, across a stretch of water that had by then became a reflecting pool with the flag of the EU shining on its surface.

The show over, and the night getting cooler, people started to make their way home. Some, the wiser, stayed at some watering hole and continued drinking.

The worse off were those who yearned for the comfort of their homes and beds. They must have thought that by celebrating Malta’s accession into the EU, things were going to become “European”. They soon found out how badly mistaken they were. Things were as Maltese (or Mediterranean) as they had always been.

The first problem, as explained, was the absolutely haphazard way that some people parked their cars, making it difficult for others to pass. Others had parked in such a hare-brained way they had to drive all the way to the War Memorial to be able to go back to the towns and villages.

That soon developed gridlock at the War Memorial.

Further chaos developed at City Gate because some people had parked there as well. To make matters worse, a bus heading towards Birkirkara hit a parked Mercedes, adding to the chaos and the confusion. The people on this particular bus, who had taken their seats at half-past midnight, arrived home at 2.30am

Nevertheless, the practically unanimous judgement of all, both those who had come to Valletta, and those who watched the celebrations from home, was that Malta had indeed risen to the occasion. The celebration marking Malta’s accession to the EU was “of world standard” as one put it.

It was also to be noted that most of the people milling around the quayside were young people, mixing easily together, political leanings forgotten, just like any other weekend in Paceville (which yesterday was totally deserted).

It is young people who stand to gain most from EU accession and, as a new era dawns for them, they are the ones who can, years from now, say, “I was there too!”