You don’t have to look far in Malta during summer to find a lamp post somewhere that has a gross amount of posters haphazardly stuck to it. I know in my adopted hometown of Fgura, lamp posts and in fact anything that stays still long enough for it to have something stuck to it, wears a poster.
These posters are usually (but not always) advertising a night of entertainment for the people of the town. To give a detailed description, posters are usually white in colour, and are written in black permanent marker. They usually display the usual delights that such a night has to offer; xorba, ikel, talenti lokali, bbq kbira and tombla! All of these are usually displayed on the posters within zigzagged edging.
Having seen these posters many times I had never ventured along to one of these events. I had always held it in my mind that they would tend to be very exclusive events. Although being one for integration, I feared I might stick out like a weight watchers meal in a pastizzi shop if I were to attend such an event.
So a few weeks ago my chance to attend such a night arrived. A friend of mine invited me along to Naxxar. There were a couple hundred of people. There were tables all lined up in front of a stage, where 2 local celebrities hosted the show. In turn they invited on abundance of young people. Some sang well, some sang not so well and some well.....erm! From what I remember there was a Maltese version of the Pussy Cat Dolls and a child duo straight from drama class who managed to destroy “love shine a light”. As all this was playing out it was comforting to see the BBQ smoking away at the side of the stage.
The highlight for most seemed to be the appearance of Maltese superstar Ira Losco, not too big and famous to support the event. Children and adults alike thronged around the stage and camcorders were out on parade.
On the surface it is easy to make fun of such an event, the quality of the singing etc, but when we scratch beneath we can see a real community at work, a community coming together for one night to watch the children and teenagers play and perform as best they can. I can barely imagine such an event taking place in the UK. I think the last time such a thing occurred was on Princess Diana’s wedding day in 1981. After that the UK seems to have packed away their community spirit.
What is even more heart-warming about this event was that it was all produced and managed by children and teenagers. In this respect they did a great job and created a fantastic positive image of themselves in the minds of the local community.
Well done to the youth of Naxxar!
