Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has said that neither his ministry nor the Malta Tourism Authority has given any blessing for mass events to take place in Malta.

Taking to social media to allay concerns after adverts marketing major parties and festivals in Malta later this year emerged, Bartolo said that the time will come to speak about such events, but said that these discussions will only be on the advice of the public health authorities.

“The balance between the health of the Maltese and Gozitan people, and the country’s prospects for economic recovery remain our first and foremost priority”, Bartolo said.

The Lost & Found festival – a weekend-long party which attracts thousands of partygoers to the country – is advertised online as being set to take place between 1 and 4 September later this year at Café del Mar in St. Paul’s Bay.

Tickets are already on sale, ranging from €166 for an early-bird weekend pass to €231 for an early-bird weekend VIP pass.

Other popular festivals – the Glitch Festival and the Drumcode Festival – are slated to take place in August and September respectively. The latter has already advertised that they are sold out.

Glitch meanwhile lists the Malta Tourism Authority itself as one of its sponsors on its website.

Mass events have been a public bone of contention ever since a weekend-long party and a village feast march shattered hopes of a tranquil summer without many Covid-19 cases towards the end of July.

There has been no word on whether these mass events will be allowed come August or September – however, Health Minister Chris Fearne has said that Malta is expected to achieve herd immunity by the end of June and is set to have offered a vaccine dose to the whole population by mid-August.