Malta & Gozo Events This Week: September 15-21, 2025 – From Notte Bianca to Gozo’s Agrarian Oscars

What’s on in Malta and Gozo this week: September 15 to 21, 2025
By Hot Malta staff

Valletta’s limestone façades are already warming under the generous September sun when the first brass-band chords ricochet through Strait Street at 07:30 on Monday morning. It’s not a rehearsal—it’s the traditional “Marċ tal-Bieraħ”, a 150-year-old custom that marks the start of the national cultural calendar. Shopkeepers dust off their stools, cappuccino cups clink in anticipation, and cruise-liner passengers lean over the Upper Barrakka rails wondering why half the capital is swaying to a Sousa march. The answer is simple: Malta’s intense summer lull is officially over, and the islands are ready to exhale a week-long sigh of creativity.

Monday 15 – Friday 19: Notte Bianca Reloaded
After last year’s record 120,000 attendees, Notte Bianca expands into a five-day “cultural crawl”. Palaces, law-courts and even the usually off-limits Auberge de Castille throw open their doors from 18:00 till past midnight. This year’s curatorial thread is “Future Folk”: think Għannejja verses remixed by DJ Ruby, or lace-bobbins monitored by 3-D printers. “We’re asking whether tradition can survive without evolution,” explains artistic director Raphael Vella. Local restaurants have created €18 “rbuħ” menus—cheap enough for students, tasty enough to keep tourists away from generic pizza slices. Economists at MU project an extra €2.3 million injected into downtown coffers, a welcome bump after July’s dip in retail sales.

Tuesday 16: Gozo’s Agrarian Oscars
At 19:00 in the Citadel’s Law Courts, Gozo’s Ministry for Agriculture hands out the annual “Qatra ta’ Ħobż” awards to farmers who kept heritage grains alive during July’s drought. Winning tractor-owner Żeppina Farrugia, 68, of Xagħra, tells us: “My nanniet ploughed by donkey; I use GPS, but the wheat is still the same.” The ceremony streams live on TVM2, yet villagers gather in the square anyway, clutching wicker chairs and Fenkata stew. It’s part award-show, part parish social, and a reminder that Gozo’s community spirit remains stubbornly analogue.

Wednesday 17: Three Cities’ Regatta & Waterfront Feast
Birgu’s marina glows under a canopy of fairy-lights for Vittoriosa’s maritime feast. The historic regatta—rowed in sleek dgħajjes that date back to the 17th-century Order—starts at 17:00, but the real drama is on land: a cook-off between rival band clubs serving rabbit lasagne versus cuttlefish ravioli. “We’ve had to borrow chairs from the parish church; that’s 800 seats,” laughs Birgu mayor John Boxall. The event doubles as a fundraiser for the community’s new rowing gym, aiming to get 120 teenagers off Fortnite and onto the Grand Harbour by Christmas.

Thursday 18: Science in the Citadel
Mdina’s Silent City speaks up when 40 European researchers set up interactive stalls inside the cathedral museum. Kids can extract DNA from strawberries while parents sip Mdina wine and learn how CRISPR could save the islands’ dwindling honey-bee population. The festival is EU co-financed, but entrance is free thanks to a discreet sponsorship by Malta’s iGaming sector—proof that even casino giants want science cred these days.

Friday 19: Birżebbuġa’s Fish & Film Night
The fishing village closes its main road at 18:00 and screens “Luzzu”, the 2021 indie hit that put Maltese cinema on the map. Director Alex Camilleri returns for a Q&A, but locals are more excited about the lampuki sandwiches grilled on repurposed oil-drum barbecues. Proceeds go to the fishermen’s cooperative still repairing boats damaged in last winter’s storm. “Hollywood? No, it’s about our paychecks,” says 24-year-old fisherman-DJ Mauro, spinning 80s Italo-disco between film reels.

Saturday 20: Sliema Street Art Jamboree
From 10:00, Dingli Circus becomes a giant easel. Thirty international muralists join local collective “Spray Malta” to paint a 200-metre hoarding that will later shield the new 14-storey hotel development—an attempt to soften the blow of yet more cranes on the skyline. Residents voted on Instagram for the theme: “Reclaim the Sea”. Expect pastizz-shaped octopi and swimmers morphing into plastic bottles. Councillor Claire Zammit says the project will be documented via NFT, with 30% of online sales channelled to marine-clean-up NGOs.

Sunday 21: Malta’s first Climate Marathon
The week signs off with a literal run towards redemption. Starting 06:00 at Ġgantija temples and finishing in Valletta’s Triton Fountain, the 42-km route is carbon-offset through tree-planting in Buskett. Participants include 92-year-old marathon veteran Joe Micallef and, in a diplomatic coup, the new U.S. ambassador running in a T-shirt that reads “Y’all Need Solar”. Water stations use edible seaweed cups, and every kilometre is soundtracked by a different village band—because nothing propels Maltese legs faster than a jaunty marcia.

Conclusion
From brass bands to biodegradable cups, September’s third week shows Malta and Gozo doing what they do best: layering centuries of tradition with a spontaneous, sometimes chaotic, burst of innovation. These events aren’t just diary fillers; they’re economic lifelines for village vendors, classrooms for heritage-curious kids, and rare moments when politicians, punters and priests occupy the same congested street without arguing about parking. So grab your sunhat, download the Tallinja app, and leave room for a second helping of rabbit. The islands are awake—mistħajjel li tkun missu?