Camilleri Wines are again this year associating themselves with the 18th BJ’s Music Marathon, which is starting today. The company will again be present at the one-week, non-stop marathon, with their Palatino range of wines.

Olivia Lewis will be giving a live performance to kick off this year’s marathon.

This annual event at the popular Paceville nightclub seeks to raise funds for the Millennium Chapel’s social project WOW – Wishing Others Well. To date, BJ’s Nightclub has collected over Lm100,000 from the previous marathons. A number of major bands have already confirmed participation in this year’s event, namely the Big Band Brothers of Xarabank, Salt, Mindstate, Fakawi, Fire, Nikki Vukovic, Scar, the Doctor’s Band The Quacks, Artisans and many others.

Claudio Camilleri, head of sales and marketing at Camilleri Wines expressed the company’s satisfaction at once again being associated with this year’s marathon. “Following the success and positive feedback generated from our first experience last year with the sponsoring of this popular music marathon, we have again this year opted to support this worthy cause by ensuring a flow of our Palatino wines during the one-week event. Palatino is one of our flagship products and a highly popular brand, so much so that in the coming weeks we are hoping to announce two new additions to this brand,” said Mr Camilleri.

Thanking Camilleri Wines for their support of the marathon, BJ’s owner Philip Fenech referred to the marathon as being more than just an annual event.

“The BJ’s Music Marathon is nowadays an institution that has flourished over the years, establishing itself as one of the main musical highlights of the year. It is a music event aimed at preserving live music as a form of entertainment that has managed to attract an ever-increasing niche market all year round. Besides, we use this attractive venue to support a most worthy cause – WOW – Wishing Others Well – a social initiative undertaken by the Millennium Chapel,” he said.

Mr Fenech added: “The uniqueness of BJ’s Music Marathon lies in the fact that it manages to bring all styles of music under one roof, many times, in an improvised style. Musicians regularly convene at BJ’s and improvise music sessions – the result of which is an exquisite musical experience for our patrons to enjoy.”

This year’s BJ’s Music Marathon will kick off today at 5pm. Musicians who would like to participate are to contact Philip Fenech on 9949-3534 or BJ’s Nightclub on 2137-7642 (after 10 pm). For the first time, this year’s event will be extended to Valletta, with a number of bands performing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 9am and 1pm next to the Burger King premises.

Donations in aid of The BJ’s Music Marathon 2007 may be effected by sending an SMS to 5061-8061 for donations of Lm2, to 5061-8915 for Lm3, or to 5061-9204 for donations of Lm5.

For more information and continuous updates about the event, visit www.music-marathon.com