St Julian’s is known for its nightlife, restaurants and seafront promenade, but once a year the town slows down just enough to celebrate its own patron saint in true Maltese style. The Feast of St Julian brings marching bands, fireworks and a proud local tradition to Spinola Bay, and it is one of the best festas to catch if you are staying anywhere in the St Julian’s or Sliema area this summer.
When Is the Feast of St Julian 2026
The main feast day falls on Sunday, 30th August 2026, which lines up with the traditional timing of the celebration during the last weekend of August. As with most Maltese village feasts, the festivities are not limited to just the Sunday. The full week leading up to it is filled with liturgical services, band marches and street decorations, building toward the big weekend.
Where It Takes Place
The celebrations are centred around St Julian’s Parish Church, overlooking Balluta Bay, with the marching bands and processions winding through the streets of St Julian’s down toward Spinola Bay, where the fireworks display takes place.
What to Expect During the Festa
Marching bands Local band clubs lead their followers through the town, from the centre of St Julian’s down to Spinola Bay, playing traditional festa music along the way.
Street decorations and market stalls Expect flags, festoons and festive lighting throughout the town, along with food and drink stalls, an artisan market, activities for children, and even a tavern style setup that has become part of the more recent editions of the feast.
Hunters firing blank cartridges St Julian is traditionally associated with hunting, and in a nod to this, hunters line up on the rooftop of the parish church and fire blank cartridges loaded with black powder into the air as the statue of St Julian is carried out through the church doors.
Fireworks over Spinola Bay The feast traditionally closes with a spectacular fireworks display set off over Spinola Bay, generally held on the Saturday evening, making it one of the more scenic pyrotechnic shows on the island given its seafront setting.
Il-Ġostra One of the more unusual traditions tied to the history of the feast is il-ġostra, a Maltese version of a greasy pole contest that has been part of St Julian’s festa culture since the 1800s. Competitors try to run up a long angled pole covered in grease to grab a flag at the end before inevitably slipping into the sea, much to the delight of the crowd watching from the shore.
Why It Is Worth Visiting
Because it takes place right in St Julian’s, this festa is one of the easiest to combine with a regular night out, dinner by the water, or a stay at one of the many hotels along the seafront. The Spinola Bay setting gives the fireworks a particularly good backdrop, with the display reflecting off the water and the surrounding restaurants and bars filling up with people watching from their tables.
Tips for Visiting
- Head down toward Spinola Bay on the Saturday evening if fireworks are your main reason for going, since that is when the main display typically takes place.
- Expect the streets around St Julian’s Parish Church and Spinola Bay to get busy and some roads to close during the peak of the celebrations, so walking is often easier than driving.
- Book a table in advance if you want to watch the fireworks from one of the restaurants overlooking Spinola Bay, since these fill up quickly on feast night.
- If you are curious about il-ġostra, keep in mind participation is generally limited to St Julian’s residents and those involved in preparing the feast decorations, so it is one to watch rather than join in on as a visitor.
Whether you are already staying in St Julian’s or planning a short trip over from Sliema or St Paul’s Bay, the Feast of St Julian 2026 is a great chance to see a different, more traditional side of one of Malta’s busiest towns.