About this festa

Mtarfa is a quiet hilltop village in central Malta, originally built as a garrison town during the British colonial period. The distinctive Victorian and Edwardian military architecture gives the village a character unlike anywhere else in Malta. The parish of St Lucy celebrates its festa in December, one of the few festas held outside the summer season, giving it a unique atmosphere of candlelight and cool winter air. St Lucy was a young Christian martyr from Syracuse in Sicily, executed around 304 AD during the Diocletianic persecution. Her name means light in Latin and she is traditionally invoked for ailments of the eyes. Her feast on 13 December falls near the winter solstice, and in many traditions she is associated with bringing light into the darkest time of year.