Birgu is proud to celebrate two feasts during August, one for St. Lawrence and one for St. Dominic, both of whom I have written about in earlier blogs. Here I will write mostly about the external celebrations during the feasts: activities that take place in the open air and are readily accessible to the general public. Alongside these external activities there are of course more spiritual activities taking place in the churches, but I will not cover these here.
The St. Lawrence feast takes place in Birgu during the first ten days of August. In fact, in the Roman Catholic calendar the Feast of St. Dominic is held on 8th August and is celebrated at that time in other cities in Malta. But here in Birgu the Dominican community postpone their celebrations to the last full week of August, to avoid any overlap.
Both feasts require a long period of preparation, and street decorations and fireworks are worked on throughout the year. Nearer the actual weeks of the feasts, teams of volunteers flood the streets dressed in either red for St. Lawrence or blue for St. Dominic, to decorate the city ready for the main days of the celebrations.
During the feast days there are a range of activities, some of which I have written about in earlier blogs: the flying of flags, brass bands marching, fireworks, and of course the adoration of the relevant saint. Other activities include band concerts, the inauguration of new or restored devotional items, processions with the titular and other statues, children’s days, band club parties, confetti cannons, community meals, sound and light shows, and the all-important placing of a statue of the saint on the pedestal near the main gate of the city, for the duration of the highest days of the feast.
What follows is a photographic documentation of the two feasts as they occurred in 2025.
I have deliberately mixed up the photographs from the two Birgu feasts, showing reds alongside blues throughout. This does not accurately represent the situation on the ground, however, and although violent antagonism between the two feast communities is thankfully no longer a feature of the celebrations, there is still strong competition between them.
Within the churches, co-operation is more evident: Dominican priests say Mass in the church of St. Lawrence, and vice versa. Secular developments, however, may have been more important in the reduction of antagonism. Relatively recently there has been a stronger Dominican voice on the local council. And significantly, the success of the Birgu Regatta club in the last two years has had a great effect in uniting the two communities, as the rowers of Birgu are drawn from both.
