Beneath the city of Valletta, hidden within the atmospheric vaults beneath San Duminku Church, Folk Underground offers audiences an encounter with one of Malta's most distinctive living traditions.

At the heart of the project is għana, Malta's unique form of folk singing and oral poetry, recognised as an important expression of the islands' intangible cultural heritage. For generations, għana has provided a space for storytelling, social commentary, humour, courtship, memory, and the sharing of collective experience. Passed from one generation to the next through performance rather than formal institutions, it remains one of Malta's most authentic forms of cultural expression.

Folk Underground brings this tradition into a remarkable setting where history, architecture, and sound converge. Within the stone chambers of Sala San Duminku, audiences experience voices and guitars resonating through vaulted spaces beneath the city, creating an atmosphere that is both intimate and immersive.

The weekly performances bring together some of Malta's most respected practitioners of għana alongside emerging artists who are helping shape its future. Traditional ballads, improvised verse, narrative songs, and virtuosic guitar accompaniment are presented with authenticity and artistry, remaining faithful to the tradition while engaging contemporary audiences.

Through powerful vocal performances and the distinctive sounds of the Maltese folk guitar, Folk Underground explores themes that have resonated across centuries: love and longing, wit and satire, migration and belonging, hardship and celebration. These are stories rooted in Malta's past yet still relevant today.

More than a concert series, Folk Underground is an invitation to experience cultural heritage as a living practice. It celebrates the individuals who continue to carry these traditions forward and creates a space where audiences can encounter Malta's rich musical legacy not as history, but as a vibrant and evolving art form.

As voices, guitars, and stories echo through the underground vaults, Folk Underground reveals that some of Malta's most important cultural treasures are still being sung, shared, and reimagined in the present day.

Sala San Duminku, Valletta - 'Not all stories are told above ground'

Located beneath the historic church of St Dominic in Valletta, Sala San Duminku is one of the capital's most atmospheric cultural spaces. Its stone vaults and underground chambers provide an intimate setting where sound, architecture, and history converge. For Folk Underground, the venue becomes more than a performance space; it becomes part of the experience itself.

Living heritage

Għana is one of Malta's most distinctive forms of intangible cultural heritage, a living tradition that has been passed from generation to generation through performance, memory, and community participation. Rooted in everyday life, it combines song, storytelling, poetry, and virtuoso guitar accompaniment to express the experiences, humour, concerns, and aspirations of ordinary people.

For centuries, għana has provided a platform for dialogue, creativity, and cultural exchange. Performed in village squares, family gatherings, bars, festas, and informal social spaces, it has remained closely connected to the communities that shaped it. Through improvised verse, narrative ballads, and highly-skilled vocal techniques, singers have preserved local dialects, stories, and ways of life that might otherwise have been lost.

Today, għana continues to evolve through the dedication of musicians, researchers, and cultural practitioners who ensure that this tradition remains relevant and accessible to new generations. Far from being a relic of the past, it remains a vibrant artistic practice that reflects Malta's identity while continuing to inspire contemporary audiences.

Folk Underground celebrates this living heritage by creating a space where tradition is not simply remembered, but experienced, shared, and carried forward through live performance.

Malta's intangible cultural heritage

Across the world, communities safeguard traditions that are passed on through knowledge, practice, and participation rather than through monuments or objects. These living traditions are recognised as intangible cultural heritage, encompassing music, oral traditions, craftsmanship, rituals, and performing arts.

Għana occupies a unique place within Malta's cultural landscape. Through its distinctive vocal styles, poetic exchanges, and traditional guitar accompaniment, it preserves centuries of musical knowledge and collective memory. Each performance is both an act of preservation and renewal, ensuring that the tradition remains relevant while retaining its authentic character.

As interest grows internationally in safeguarding living heritage, Folk Underground offers audiences an opportunity to encounter one of Malta's most remarkable cultural traditions in its natural form: performed live by the artists who continue to sustain, develop, and pass it on.

For more information visit https://www.folkunderground.com/