When the saint comes marching out – the cultural playing of a Maltese festa

Abstract

The chapter focuses on the ‘festa’ celebrations in the Maltese Islands – festive rituals which commemorate the village and town patron saints – as an example of heightened community life. It shows how the playful, theatrical dimension of this type of cultural playing is essential to the life of a small, tightly-knit community. The concept of ‘emphasis’ is used to define the performative characteristics of altered behaviour during the celebrations. Colour and sound are discussed as elements of both display and distinction, merging together inside and outside celebration, creating a spatial and aural metamorphosis which provides the right setting for altered behaviour. The theatrical qualities of the event are perceived through ostension, ostentation and transformation, which are connected to personal as well as inter- and intra-village and town rivalry, and point to the underlying political differences within and between communities.