In a month’s time our beloved Malta will once again start to welcome incoming tourists from various destinations considered to be safe in terms of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Needless to say, the hospitality industry has been the worst hit economic sector. Hopefully, given we get it right this time round, fellow citizens that depend on it will experience a much deserved degree of recovery.

One significant contributor to our tourism product is the village festa, held to commemorate the respective patron saint. In some instances, given the phenomenon of tribalism within our parishes, another secondary feast is held, sometimes with the same pomp and circumstance. In any case, one has to acknowledge that such festivities are held with great enthusiasm and flair thanks to the selfless contribution of a significant number of men and women attributed to the respective musical society or festivities committee.

The advent of Covid-19 has brought such festivities to a halt. Last year, during the month of July when restrictions were eased, the local ecclesiastical authorities permitted pilgrimages to be held, soon to be withdrawn as fresh cases of infected citizens began to rise yet again and the health authorities had to take immediate corrective action. This created an unwarranted situation within our parishes and without identifying any particular town or village, the phenomena of tribalism re-ignited as the statue appertaining to the secondary feast exited the church in the form of a pilgrimage, whilst the titular statue had to suffice indoors under the nave! A review of the comments left on social media platforms will make it immediately evident that such comments are totally dissonant with the basic tenets of Catholicism.

Whilst hoping that this year the local ecclesiastical authorities will spare our parish priests from a repeat scenario, I feel that there are yet more fundamental issues which one will have to consider prior to giving the green light for village festas to be held again. First and foremost, I feel that having skipped nearly 18 months of fund-raising activities due to the pandemic, certain musical societies will not be in a position to organise the feast in the same elaborate way they have been used to. On top of this, given that the relative musical societies had to shut down, another important source of income i.e. the rent receivable from sub-letting the bar area, literally disappeared.

Not least the church itself – with no faithful attending church services, church donations have dwindled –  a part of which would have been set aside to finance the direct expense of organising the internal festivities as well as providing a contribution for the external festivities. All in all, one could also put forward the argument that with the current state of donations, the church will have to prioritise its expenditure. There is more validity in ensuring that a social project such as Dar tal-Providenza continues to exist rather than spending tens of thousands on organising the village festa.

There is also a human resource argument. Are those responsible for the organisation of our village festas still ingrained with the same flair and enthusiasm to go ahead and organise it? Few might have lost an important part-time employment opportunity, hence, experiencing a reduction in their disposable income. Moreover, there is a possibility that most have got used to staying indoors close to their families, rather than having to attend to their weekly commitments down at the club, putting in their effort on numerous bits and pieces the sum of which culminates for the big event – the annual village festa.

Those who know me closely are aware that it is quite unusual of me to sound somewhat negative, but I feel that serious thinking about the way ahead should be done by all those responsible prior to switching on the green light again. I feel that at some stage government will have to intervene to remedy the situation, by possibly funding the expense involved through our local councils. In turn, such local councils will be responsible for all exterior festivities whilst the local ecclesiastical community will take on the sole responsibility of organising the internal festivities. Whilst ensuring financial continuity, such a solution would possibly also assist in minimising the negative impact of local tribalism and its spill over on our parish priests.

 

Dr. Ivan Grixti is a senior lecturer in Financial Accounting at the University of Malta