Tourism minister lauds fireworks festival

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis paid tribute to yesterday’s fireworks display staged over the Grand Habour in Valletta and said that such spectacles “continued to portray the Maltese islands as a touristic gem in the Mediterranean.”

The 13th edition of the Malta International fireworks festival was organised jointly by the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority, and ended with an impressive fireworks display by the PyroEmotions Italian fireworks company to commemorate Malta’s 10-year anniversary since accession to the European Union.

This year's festival included the international competition held in the picturesque fishing village of Marsaxlokk and the local competition held in the prime tourist destination of Bugibba. The festival brought together five local and five foreign fireworks companies and is now becoming an important part of the international pyrotechnic calendar. 

Zammit Lewis said that he was “very impressed” with the standard of the festival, which has now become an annual part of the country's “rich and diverse” events calendar.

“It is this sort of event which continues to make the Maltese islands a more attractive tourism destination,” he said. “It also plays an important part in assisting the tourism industry to achieve the excellent results it has been attaining as confirmed once again yesterday by the figures published for March registering a 7% increase."