These Are All The Long Weekends Malta’s Getting In 2018
While some of us are still reeling from a long and much-needed break over Christmastime, others are already counting down the days to the next holiday. And in case you’re wondering, we will be getting a long weekend or two.
Here are all the Maltese public holidays to look forward to in 2018. Drum roll please…
Saturday 10th February: St. Paul’s Shipwreck
OK, so if you were hoping for a long weekend to kick off 2018’s public holidays, we’ve got some bad news. Still, it’s the first hint of holidays, so might as well celebrate St. Paul’s bumpy stop in Malta.
Monday 19th March: St. Joseph’s Day
OK, now that’s better.
The main festivities for this feast will take place in Rabat, and with March normally giving way to some nicer weather, you’ll probably want to make a day of it.
Friday 30th March: Good Friday
Sunday 1st April: Easter Sunday
No, that’s not a joke. Easter Sunday will actually coincide with April Fools’ this year.
If you’d like to celebrate the original meaning of this day, there are countless solemn festivities in the beautiful and small villages around the island.
If you’re not one for religious tradition, we can all agree that Easter Sunday is gorge-yourself-on-sweets-day.
Saturday 31st March: Freedom Day
2018’s recognition of Malta’s freedom will fall bang in the middle of Easter weekend, but you can always use Holy Saturday to remember 1979 instead.
Tuesday 1st May: Workers’ Day
It could be better placed, but who are we kidding; a holiday’s a holiday.
Make the most of this day and the fact that the weather would’ve started getting warmer by spending the whole weekday out of the house. Go on a road trip, a picnic with your loved ones, or if you want to show people how brave you are, the first swim of 2018!
Thursday 7th June: Sette Giugno
Sette Giugno in 2018 is set to be the perfect midweek break as the weather starts getting warmer. In fact, expect an “eve of a public holiday” party to crop up on Wednesday.
Seeing as it’ll be the first week of June, you really have no excuse to go to the beach this time. So get working on your summer body; the countdown has officially started!
A fun game to play this year is to see how many of your coworkers will magically get sick come Friday. #SuperLongWeekend, anyone?
Friday 29th June: L-Imnarja / Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul
An ancient harvest festival set to date back to the Roman period, Imnarja has also more recently been given the Roman Catholic treatment by also adding public holiday bros Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
Long story short though, we’re looking at a long weekend to close June off. Romans, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul; thank you all.
One of the coolest things you can do on the day is check out the festivities in Rabat, like the horse races in the beautiful countryside.
Wednesday 15th August: Assumption Day
Possibly the mother of all public holidays in Malta, Assumption Day (or as it’s more commonly known, Santa Marija), is Malta’s answer to Italy’s Ferragosto.
If you don’t want to join the 98% of the country in its mad scramble up to Gozo for the weekend, we recommend heading as far away as possible from all of it and visiting one of the beautiful villages in the south of Malta, like Marsaxlokk.
Saturday 8th September: Victory Day
Also known as Our Lady of Victories, this national holiday celebrates the end of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 (and the beginning of the end of summer for many).
Make the most of this day by either going up to Gozo now and avoiding the rush of 15th August, or go sunbathing and swimming one last time before we slowly but inevitably start gearing up for school and Christmas all over again.
Alternatively, head on down to Valletta or any one of the Three Cities to watch some good old traditional boat racing at the regatta.
Friday 21st September: Independence Day
Malta gained its independence from what was left of the British Empire in 1964, but more than five decades later, we still make sure to celebrate this with a big do on the 21st of September. Add a long weekend to the mix, and let the celebrations commence!
The day also coincides with the first day of autumn, so take this opportunity to either make the most of the officially fading Summer 18, or usher in the new season in style.
Saturday 8th December: Immaculate Conception
Also known as Virgins Day, one of the best places to celebrate this important day for the Catholic Church is in Bormla, where the typical festa feel that would’ve been going for a whole summer gets a bit of a wintery touch.
Don’t worry though – gallons of alcohol and tons of fireworks will still be present.
Thursday 13th December: Republic Day
Fresh off the heals of the Immaculate Conception the weekend before, Republic Day 2018 is going to make for a better (read: shorter) week of work.
This year will mark the 44rd year since Malta got to the final step in the creation of its political autonomy, and is normally the perfect excuse to carry on the festive mood of mid-December and have yet another reason to eat, drink, be merry and build a body you’ll regret in a couple of weeks.
Another perfect opportunity for midweek parties… or panicky Christmas shopping.
Tuesday 25th December: Christmas Day
It’s that time of the year again, already?!
Tuesday might not be the best day of the week, so knowing that we’ll be waking up to presents and enough food to stuff a horse (or five) on the last Tuesday of 2018 is a pretty comforting thought to get us through the year together.