Pyxis - Mgarr, Gozo (Lejlet Lapsi)

Mgarr, Gozo (Lejlet Lapsi)

Pyxis

Karen & Richard

Sat 23 May 2009 22:58

Saturday 23^rd May – Mgarr, Gozo (Lejlet Lapsi)

36:01.556N 14:17.925E

This afternoon we walked down to the ferry terminal in Mgarr and caught the bus into Victoria to visit the festival taking place this weekend, Lejlet Lapsi. After we arrived we revisited the pastry shop we went to the other day and picked up a few pastizzi as supplies for later J

There were various events, parades, bands and exhibitions going on throughout the day spread throughout the town. When we first arrived the town was fairly quiet, with mostly tourists around, but by the time we left it was full of people, predominantly locals, enjoying the party. We had a very good afternoon and evening.

Up at the Citadel, there was an art exhibition, a folk show, a chance to visit the WWII shelters and also a chance to look inside the cathedral. In addition, in the evening, the Archaeology Museum and Old Prison had waived their admission charges for the festival. The highlight for us though was the chance to visit the gunpowder room, grain silos, wartime shelter, and lower bastion which had been opened for viewing by Wirt Ghawdex, a local volunteer organisation. The grain silos had literally only just been opened to the public this weekend; until recent times they had been used for storing water and it was only two weeks ago that the volunteers had finally received permission to open them up. Later we returned to the citadel walls to watch the sun set over the sea in the distance.

Back in town once the sun had gone down, the festival lights gave the place a cheerful feel. In several places along the streets were different bands covering almost every taste in music – some rock, some teen-pop stuff, even some opera. On one corner a TV station were putting on a live show, further along there was another band and then a fashion show. Richard particularly liked it when the models started a swimsuit parade - I managed to drag him away eventually. Then, in the nearby park there was a small motor show. We wandered from one show to the next, enjoying the variety.

Down the narrow side streets near St George’s Basilica large ‘nightlights’ had been put on the ground every few yards marking the main routes and adding a nice touch. In addition the Parish Centre had been opened allowing us to visit the rooftop and look out over the town, and to see a small exhibition of some of the basilica’s more precious objects and vestments.

We finished our visit by going to watch the firework display at 11pm. It was described as a competition between various Gozitan fireworks enthusiasts; it was certainly unusual. Rather than just letting off rockets and Roman candles to music, over 20 individual wooden frames had been constructed in the square, each loaded with various fireworks and Catherine wheels. Slowly, one by one, each frame was ignited with the resultant display being judged; some of the structures seemed quite precarious.

The fireworks were going to take a long time to finish and eventually we had to leave to catch the bus back to Mgarr; on the bus were a Canadian couple from our pontoon and we walked back from the ferry terminal together.