Featured Image Original Photo by Steven Bonnici

No work on a weekday and you get to open presents? Celebrating your birthday on a public holiday sounds like a dream, and it mostly is. For many Maltese people out there, this “coincidence” (let’s not pretend like your parents didn’t methodically plan this out years ago) has a bunch of perks… especially if your birthday falls right in the middle of summer.

Here are five awesome feelings all Maltese people born on a public holiday know all too well.

1. You never need to book leave for your birthday

Wait, so you’re telling me you actually need to remember to have at least one day from your allowed off days booked for your birthday?

How sweet; the government practically orders me not to work on my birthday.

Oh, and it’s going to be a Friday this year? That’s nice.

2. All your friends are up for meeting

No longer will work be an excuse for not being able to make your birthday celebrations, because the entire country is on a break.

If you’re planning a bit of a heavy one, you can even organise it on the eve of your birthday. You know, like those big summer festivals. Which you can also attend. Till the early hours of the morning. While celebrating your birthday.

3. The day is literally named after you

Yes, definitely not the other way round.

Sure, there might be thousands of people called Mario or Maria out there, but on the 15th of August, each and every one of them feels like the most important person in the country.

And you best not forget the Saint before my name.

4. Villages around the island celebrate your birthday with fireworks

This does depend on the particular public holiday in question, but with Malta being a festa island, there’s always going to be at least one village shooting fireworks in the sky to celebrate their patron sai-I mean, your birthday.

5. And birthday festa food is the best thing ever

Fireworks might be the loudest thing about a festa, but the food is where it’s at for the true Maltese people.

Dozens of kiosks dot village centres and outskirts alike when the feast comes round, and there’s no better excuse to devour it all then it being your birthday.

If the people with you won’t buy the food for you, try drop a hint to the vendors; the only thing better than birthday festa food is free birthday festa food.

Tag someone who was born on a public holiday!

READ NEXT: 9 Things Every Mother Does During The Festa

David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).