Craft Beer, Heavy Music And Festa Specials: 11 Events Taking Malta By Storm This Weekend

As the last full weekend of August finally makes it way to the Maltese Islands, dozens of promoters are ramping up their events and taking things up a notch.

There’s loads of stuff to do if you want to make the most of summer’s limited remaining couple of weeks, and even the weather is set to improve.

Here are 11 events happening this weekend in Malta, to help get you started on those plans before it’s too late.

Friday 24th August

1. A celebration of craft beer in the capital

Valletta will be hosting the Malta Craft Beer Festival this weekend, turning Fort Saint Elmo in an ode to some of the best breweries in the world. 14 breweries from 10 different countries will be making an appearance at the three-day festival.

Featuring a wide range of artists, from Xarulu’ acoustic duo & The Busker to Beangrowers and The Areola Treat, not to mention mouthwatering food by KuYa, Danny’s and The Pulled Meat Company, the next three days promise to be a celebration of sight, sound and taste.

2. The father of Maltese modern art lives on

The recently-inaugarated Valletta Contemporary will be hosting a posthumous exhibition honouring of the greatest artists this island has ever seen, the late Gabriel Caruana.

Over 30 pieces will be sourced from a number of collectors, all helping to shed light on a new side of Caruana’s wondrous work.

3. A street artist and hip hop gathering

4. A melodic death metal double-bill

Dark Tranquillity and Evergrey, boasting over half a million combined fans on Facebook and way more online, will both be performing at Aria tonight.

Pioneering Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquility brought their signature sound, what is literally known as the Gothenburg sound, to the world a whole 29 years ago. Another set of Swedish giants, this time when it comes to progressive power metal, Evergrey have their own, blistering 11-album arsenal of songs to throw at the crowd.

Supporting both acts on the night will be local prog rockers Colourblind, who have themselves been tearing up the local scene since 1998.

5. A look at the future of hip hop with a heavy night straight out of Soundcloud

As hip hop continues to dominate all over the world, the cloud rap sub-genre has risen from the ashes of 00s emo to create a sound that’s been getting millions of hit worldwide.

Bringing all of that to tiny Malta, Black Plague‘s second party of its kind will be hitting The Funky Monkey with all the artists you keep reading about on the internet. Get ready to be educated… but bring ear plugs, because it’ll get loud.

Saturday 25th August

6. A rock festival in Malta’s very own forest

OK, so Buskett is more of a patch of woodland. But that hasn’t stopped a group of old school rockers to come together to play some of the last decades’ greatest hits for a good cause.

In aid of ACICA (Assistance to Children in Care Association), Rock the Forest will see the likes of Gianni Zammit, Wayne Camilleri and Diane Micallef play everything from Queen and Pink Floyd to Muse and The Killers.

7. Raving for a good cause is now a thing

Supporting the 12th Kilimanjaro Challenge, a night of rave is coming to Xemxija’s Beachaven is coming to Malta this weekend.

Carl Lautier, Monochrome, Undefined, GEORG, Glenn Frantz and none other than DJ Ruby will be taking over the decks between 6pm and 4am. It’s going to be a long one, so get ready to rave for a purpose.

8. A rooftop party with a fireworks backdrop

Taking over the rooftop of St. Julian’s Cavalieri Art Hotel, legendary local promoters BLANK will be returning for a festa special featuring a special (but secret) line-up and one of the best places in Malta to enjoy the St. Julian’s festa fireworks.

These nights are never not worth every second, but hurry; tickets are (predictably) selling fast.

Sunday 26th August

9. The festa celebrations continue early in the morning

St. Julian’s never really sleeps, so do you really expect it to sleep during the festa weekend?

The answer is quite obviously no, and to prove that, Bianco’s have teamed up with MATO to bring you a beat-filled breakfast right by the sea for the third consecutive year.

Bajd u buzz bro.

10. Malta’s premier fab bash returns for its first day event by the pool

Lollipop are back for an insane 23rd edition, and this time sees the awesome boys take to Aria for their first day event. Little Mermaid (or Mergays) themed, it’s set to be a perfect way to wind up one last time before winding down by the sunset.

The incomparable night of shenanigans gets some extra hours of sunshine added onto it. What more could you ask for?

11. BLANK is back with a bang

A venue right by the sea, an Amsterdam showcase courtesy of PIV, and an awesome eight-DJ line-up.

BLANK are all set to return to The Valley for a special six-year anniversary, and here’s hoping you are too. Tickets for this are also selling fast, but you can pair your purchase with that of BLANK’s other big bash the night before. Neato!

Tag someone who still needs to make weekend plans!

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