We believe that every person should be in a position to have access to culture.

As we have made it clear in our 2022 electoral manifesto, culture is a dinamic and vibrant force which generates wellbeing for strong communities and for a resilient and cohesive society.

Culture creates open spaces for inclusion and partecipation for everyone.  Art, culture and our patrimony are testament to those ambitious aspirations which our country has ... the same art, culture and patrimony which are intimately linked to the building of our identity.

In the last years, Labour has invested heavily in cultural infrastructure aimed at creating new cultural and creative ecologies which contributed towards wealth enhancement and a better economy.  Our electoral manifesto spells it out very clearly: we believe that the artist has an important role to play in the heart of our democratic society – and that is why we have strongly invested so that more artist make, through art and creativity, a career and a profession.

Of course the last two years were dominated by the global maladity which hit at the heart of human interaction.  We want to bolster the creative sector to recuperate as soon as possible and recreate the huge interest which characterised the immediate pre-covid period.

We have strongly delivered in the last years in this sector and we are determined to keep moving forward for the benefit of everyone’s wellbeing.  The Valletta 2018 experience, which effectively gave back a stronger, better and rejuvinated capital city to the Maltese people, showed that the dinamicity of culture can create opportunities not only for artists but for communities as well.

Valletta, for instance, is now not only a cultural hub but also generates wealth and in a sustainable manner.

We are going to keep supporting artists to keep strengthening the opportunities and horizons in Malta and abroad.  At the same time we have to foster popular artistic expressions which come directly from the grassroots, like village feasts and band clubs.

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I hail from Zejtun and I was brought up appreciating and fully living the cultural traditions relating to the Holy Week. I have never missed a Good Friday procession in my home village and for a number of years I used to participate actively in it as an official of one of the two main band clubs.

It is customary for my father and I to go around Zejtun on foot early on Good Friday and visit the various Wirjiet which cultural enthusiasts voluntarily and proudly set up in their own homes.  I remember visiting every year one at the Holy Ghost Chapel, as well as one in the Rahal ta’ Fuq and a third one in Bir id-Deheb.  Of course the Wirjiet shown at Beland Band Club and Zejtun Band Club were two main attractions, particularly since they also perform live plays which loop every 30 minutes or so.

The cuqlajta would rule the atmosphere for the day, as would also the Borma which would contain a strange concoction of herbs (normally bought from Valletta), oranges, red wine and balsam which would infuse the air with a particular scent tal-Gimgha l-Kbira.  You would find the Borma in the main spots hosting Wirjiet, as in the main cultural hubs in Zejtun.

Of course a lot of people would, by mid-day, be gearing up to participate in the Good Friday procession.  Men proudly wear Roman uniforms and women would do their utmost to appear in their absolute best wearing robes relating to the times of the Sacred Scriptures.  As a child I would look in awe at young boys who would walk in the procession barefooted or at the solitary sheep (as in real solitary sheep) which would have been led by a real-life farmer posing as a farmer from the the times of the Bible.

Many men would leave their beard unshaved and unkept in time for Good Friday.  Most of them would monopolise a particular character year in year out: like Barabbas or Herod or Pontius Pilate.  Some of them would end up being called Barabba or Erodi or Pilatu all year round for the role play they would assume during Good Friday.

The procession in Zejtun takes three whole hours to come out completely from the doors of the Cathedral of the East dedicated to St Catherine.  It is also adorned with statues representing the key moments from the Via Crucis and a group of men, dressed in appropriate robes, would carry on their shoulders the extremely heavy statues throughout the route designated by the organising committee.

Each statue has its own story, and is usually related to particular families heavily rooted in Zejtun.

Some enthusiasts have pictures of Good Friday processions affixed to their walls all year round like my friend Frankie Delia, better known as Il-Popeye, who is also the proud owner of the traditional Juve Bar in the middle of the Pjazza in Zejtun.  For my friend il-Popeye and thousands of Good Friday enthusiasts, nothing beats the spirit of Holy Week, not even Christmas.

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As a young boy who would have spent the whole of the Randan not eating a single chocolate or sweet, the day before Easter (Saturday) would be the mother of all sacrifice. 

My mother would have both an easter egg for me and my brother and would have hid it in the farthest spot possible in the cupboard.  Despite my mother’s best efforts, I would Sherlock Holmes around the house until I found the egg.  This would, in turn, make the sacrifice even more unbearable!

At the time chocolate products such as Nutella-based products or Kinder-based products were a rarity, a delicacy reserved only for very special occasions.  Easter, for my mother, was one of the very special occasions!

It would have been unthinkable for me to try and take a little bite to quench my apetite for chocolate before Easter arrived, as the fear of God and, much worse than that, the fear of my very disciplined dad was enormous.  And therefore I would try to sleep early on Saturday so that Sunday would come sooner ...

Happy Easter to all the readers and the young boys or girls in you!