This year’s edition of the Valletta Green Festival will be a week-long event which will see, Pjazza San Ġorg, one of the largest spaces in Valletta, transformed with a huge floral carpet of some 80,000 potted plants. This year’s edition of the Infiorata pays tribute to Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The project is a Valletta 2018 collaboration with the Maltese Archdiocese, the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure; the Ministry for Sustainable Development, The Environment and Climate Change; the Environmental Landscaping Consortium (ELC); the Parks Department , as part of the Tree 4 U (34U) campaign; and WasteServ Malta Ltd; with the support of Inizjamed and several local environmental NGOs.
The main attraction of the last edition was the secret gardens at the Archbishop’s Palace and the cloistered monastery of St. Catherine’s. These were opened to the public for the first time in 400 years and will be open again during this edition on the weekend of Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th between 9:00 and 12:00, and then re-open from 16:00 to 19:00.
Pjazza San Ġorġ will hold a number of stalls and tents which will be working towards raising awareness on environmental issues and sustainable development. Like in previous years, Garby and Tidy along with Green Roofs will be present in the square. Joining them will be Malta Road Safety and ERA (Environment & Resources Authority) with a photo exhibition. Eko Skola together with a number of NGOs; fish4tomorrow, Żibel, Birdlife Malta, Sharklab-Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta and the Kooperattiva Kummerċ Ġust, will be present in the square to provide informative material about the impact of waste littering through engaging, educational, interactive activities.
Other activities during the weekend include musical acts Jackson Family Traditional Music Band, Tikka Banda who will be interacting with the festival goers around Valletta, an environmentally themed Open Mic, an upcycled musical instrument workshop and various storytelling activities in front of the Law Courts throughout Saturday and Sunday at the Valletta 2018 Mobile Unit. These workshops are tied to the Valletta 2018 project Poetry in Potato Bags led by Leanne Ellul, Jo Caruana and Angele Galea, as well as a Rag Rug Workshop led by Angele Galea.
For the full programme, read further below:
Sea Clean Up
Date: Saturday 22nd April
Time: 9.30 am
Location: Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta
Description: Divers will be cleaning the sea bed of the Marsamxett area.
Land and Sea Bed Clean Up
Date: Sunday 30th April
Time: 9.00 – 13.00.
Location: Aħrax tal-Mellieħa
Organisors: BirdLife, Żibel, fish4tomorrow, Shark lab Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta,
Diving schools: Professional Diving Schools Association + Seashell Diving School Mellieħa coordinating – to help with the diving clean up and donating diving tanks to participating divers.
The general public will be invited to participate both in the sea and in the land clean up.
Description: A land cleanup will take place in Aħrax tal-Mellieħa all the way down to Slugs Bay.
A sea bed cleanup will take place in Mellieħa Bay starting from Tunny Net all the way across.
Open Mic/Palk Ħieles – Environmental Theme
Date: Friday 28th April
Time: 20:00
Location: Camarata Bar, Merchants Street, Valletta
Organisors: Inizjamed
Description: Poetry, storytelling, music, stand-up interventions of any genre, language and subject.
Tikka Banda
Date: Saturday 29th April
Time: 10.00 – 13.00
Description: A performing musical band which will attract children and adults alike into the square
Location: Starting from City Gate leading down to St. George’s Square.
Rag Rug Workshop
Date: Saturday 29th April
Time: 10.00 -12.00
Organisor: Angele Galea
Description: Rag rugs will be made from up-cycling old cloths, cutting them into strips, braiding them and sewing them together.
Location: Valletta 2018 Mobile Unit, opposite Law Courts
Fair Trade Interactive, Fun Educational Activities
Date: Thursday 27 th from 9.00 to 14.00,
Saturday 29th April from 12.00 to 14.00
Sunday 30th April from 10.00 to 12.00
Location: St. George’s Square, Valletta
Organisor: Kooperattiva Kummerċ Ġust
Description: Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust will be creatively displaying facts about Tropical Fruit in a stall, providing informative material, taking colourful photos to further promote the campaign and lastly, they will hold a quiz so the passing public can participate.
Fair Trade Stall
Day: Tuesday to Sunday
Time: 15.00 – 20.00
Description: Kooperativa Kummerċ Ġust will hold an exhibition of their products.
Location: St. George’s Square, Valletta
Upcycled Musical Instrument Workshop and Performance
Day: Saturday 29th April
Time: 20.00 to 22.00
Artist: Andrew Schembri
Location: Maori Bar, Valletta
Description: An hour of performing/demonstrating and an hour of jamming for participants.
In this workshop the artists will showcase a new side to recycled instruments that is not limited to rice shakers in water bottles and oil drums used as percussions, but rather sheds light on the art and science that goes into creating these instruments.
Jackson Musical Instrument Band
Day: Sunday 30th April
Time: 10.00 to 13.00
Location: St. George’s Square, Valletta
Description: Performance of traditional Maltese music Għana as well as explaining how to construct certain instruments.
NGO stall
NGOs: fish4tomorrow, Sharklab Malta, BirdLife, Friends of the Earth Malta.
All NGOs will be doing interactive activities related to their NGO.
Venue: St. George’s Square, Valletta
Time: At least 1 NGO will be present at all times in the stall between Tuesday 25th at 9.00 am and Sunday 30th at 20.00.
National Literacy Agency
Event: Storytelling
Description: The children are asked to take part in activities linked to the books being read to encourage their love for books.
Location: Valletta 2018 Mobile Unit, opposite Law Courts
Time: Weekdays 15.00 onwards
Eko Skola
Event: Education for Sustainable development
Location: St. George’s Square, Valletta
Time: Weekdays from 9.00 – 14.00
Green Roofs
Day: Tuesday 25th to Sunday 30th
Time: 9.00 am till 20.00
Location: St. George’s Square
Description: In Malta, buildings cover one third of the Island, leaving greenery in the dirt track. Green roofs are one way to bring plants back to urban areas with loads of benefits. LifeMedGreenRoof project at the University of Malta, managed by Antoine Gatt will be exhibiting a small green roof on the roof of a stall to raise awareness and educate the public.
Opening of Archbishop’s Palace
Dates: Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th April
Time: 9:00 to 12:00; 16:00 to 19:00
Location: Archbishop Street, Valletta
Description: The garden, the underground of the palace as well as the Piano Noble will be open for the general public to visit.
Opening of Santa Katerina Convent
Dates: Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th April
Time: 9:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 and 19:00
Location: Republic Street, Valletta
Description: The garden and various rooms will be open for the general public to visit.
Poetry in Potato Bags
Dates: Saturday and Sunday
Times: Saturday 12.30 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 14.30
Sunday 10.00 to 10.30, 11.00 to 11.30 and 12.00 to 12.30
Artist: Leanne Ellul
Location: Valletta 2018 Mobile Unit, opposite Law Courts
Description: Kids will be able to participate in storytelling activities.
Stalls and Tents in St. George’s square
- ERA exhibition stand
- ELC information stand
- Garby and Tidy information stand
- National Park Information stand
- WasteServe Information stand
- Eco Skola education tent
- Road Safety Malta stand
- Green Roofs exhibition stand
- Environment NGOs information stall
(all stand and stalls will hold interactive activities)