Community
20 June, 2024
Touch of Malta in the tropics
HONOURING the efforts of past, present and future generations of the Maltese community in FNQ, the Maltese Festival is back once again in 2024 aiming to connect the Cairns community to Maltese traditions.
This Saturday, June 22, hundreds of Maltese community members from as far as Darwin will make their way to Cairns to celebrate their heritage and the Lady Ta Pinu’s Festiva – which originated in Gorzo, Malta – with a mass at St Monica’s Cathedral and a lunch with delicious and traditional Maltese dishes.
Entrance is free with a gold coin donation, and for catering purposes participants must register by contacting the Maltese association president.
Cairns and Region Maltese Association president Vicki Portelli said it was an opportunity for the small Maltese community to commemorate their traditions and share their culture.
“For this festival on June 22, it’s the celebration of our lady Ta Pinu, and there’s a beautiful church built in her memory in Gorzo, and our parents all came from that area, so we celebrate our ancestors and our lady’s festival,” she said.
“To help us, the Bishop of Darwin, who is also Maltese, flies over and celebrates with us.
“We start with a mass at 10.30am at St Monica’s Cathedral and after mass we go to the McAuley Centre behind the church and there we have a hall and kitchen, and we have a Maltese lunch.
“We want to get the younger generation to come. The Maltese community is invited but we also encourage the general community to attend.”
Ms Portelli said this was a way of preserving the Maltese heritage for the younger generation.
“It’s about getting together with other Maltese people, since there’s not a lot of us in Cairns,” she said.
“People come from Innisfail, Mareeba, Tully just to form the community, get together and talk to other Maltese people who wouldn’t have the opportunity otherwise, and just to catch up and know that they have a community around.
“It’s also about getting their children and grandchildren involved so they can appreciate the food and the culture, and it’s important because if we don’t tell our youth about it – most of them are second generation – they won’t appreciate where their families came from and their hardships.
“We want the older people to get together and talk to each other and for the younger generation to learn about their heritage and the sacrifices of their families.”
To register for attendance, contact Vicki Portelli at 0409 551 527.
