The Gozo College of Archpriests and Parish Priests under the guidance of the Bishop of Gozo issued guidelines on the conduct of the celebrations of town and village feasts in Gozo especially where outdoor ones are concerned with emphasis on band marches. Among other things it was suggested that the Sunday morning march should end by 2 p.m. so as to give people a chance to rest before the evening procession and so as to be considerate with the sick and the elderly who are disturbed by noise. Very good and worthwhile sentiments indeed with which any sane person should totally agree. What surprises me is how another means of noise pollution seemed to have totally escaped the said reverend gentlemen's attention. I am referring to the incessant ringing of the church bells here in Gozo. Everyday these begin ringing ... Read more...

The police are investigating a fire that extensively damaged a jeep and the facade of a hardware store in January Street, Xaghra on Tuesday night. Police sources said preliminary investigations indicate that the fire started as a result of a short circuit in a vehicle parked in front of Marco Ironmongery, the fire then spread to the outlet's door and facade.

An outline application for a waste transfer station in Gozo has been approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Managed by Wasteserv Malta Ltd, the government's waste management unit, the facility will be built in Tal-Kus, between Xewkija and Mgarr ix-Xini, and should include a civic amenity site for the collection and sorting of recyclable waste. Some 35,000 tonnes of waste originating each year in Gozo are to be processed in the facility, which will be built inside an unused quarry on the hillside "to reduce the visual impact of the station as much as possible". The waste will be loaded onto lorries and carried to the engineered landfill in Malta via Gozo Channel ferries during off-peak trips. The Mepa board yesterday heard how the site was the most suitable of three sites which had been identified originally: Ta' l-Imghajjen, close to ... Read more...

The ninth edition of the Victoria International Arts Festival opens today with the Italian choral ensemble Stirps Jesse at St George's cloister and the adjoining concert hall, Aula Mgr Giuseppe Farrugia, in Victoria. The festival, which offers more than 30 events and concerts, ranges from solo performances, chamber ensembles, choirs, wind bands, brass bands and orchestras to literary evenings and the inauguration of a baroque organ donated to the Basilica by Oxford scholar Richard Vendome. It will feature artists from the UK, Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Holland, the Czech Republic and the US. Lori Belilove, a ballet dancer and champion of the Isadora Duncan ideal and technique, will be performing music adapted from Gluck's Orfeo et Eurydice along with three other dancers from New York. A wind and brass band from the UK will also be present together with Malta's ... Read more...

The Ggantija Temples in Xaghra, are being opened for the first time to host a music and dance spectacle as the highlight of the Festival ItaliaMalta 2006, a week of cultural events, music and theatre in the main historical sites of the islands. The performance at the temples of the opera Cleopatra, and dance to the music of Orpheus and Eurydice with choreography by Isadora Duncan, will take place on Saturday starting at 9pm. The festival, featuring classical music and literary works and highlighting the Italian presence in Malta and Gozo, started yesterday and carries on until Sunday. The spectacle is being organised by the Euro-Mediterraneo Culture dei Mari, an Italian association that promotes events and culture in the Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and other entities. Tomorrow, a sacred performance in Maltese and Italian on excerpts from the Acts ... Read more...

The Union Haddiema Maghqudin has directed ambulance drivers in Gozo not to work overtime and to take their break at the stipulated time. The union is in dispute with the Gozo Ministry over the late payment of overtime due to the ambulance drivers. The union said that it had warned the Ministry over the issue on more than one occasion, as workers were owed payment dating back to July 2005. The union added that only 48 per cent of dues were paid to the workers last February. It would not tolerate any more delays and was prepared to step up action, the union said.

A man from Xewkija was charged yesterday with assaulting and threatening two members of the Civil Protection Department while they were on duty. Mario Spiteri, 47, was arraigned before Magistrate Paul Coppini in the Gozo court and charged with assaulting and threatening the two men in his hometown, slightly injuring them, breaching the peace and swearing in public. The man pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him. He was granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm500.

Wojtyla Chants, a memorial concert, will be performed on Friday at the Basilica of Marija Bambina in Xaghra. The concert starts at 8.30pm and features the renowned Schola Cantorum Jubilate. It is being organised by Il-Kumitat Monument Gwanni Pawlu II (John Paul II Monument Committee) and the Xaghra local council. The repertoire includes pieces by Palestrina, Lotti, Handel, Arcadelt, Kodaly, Frisina and even a new piece written by Paul Portelli from Zurrieq. Mro Portelli has composed various sacred pieces for soprano, mixed voices and even for instruments. Marouska Attard will be directing the choir, which will be accompanied by the church organ played by Mro Stephen Attard. The brothers Jean Noel and Pierre Louis Attard together with their uncle Mro Stephen Attard will interpret pieces by Jueles Massenet, Michel Corrette and one of Stephen?s compositions on the violins and organ respectively. During the concert, ... Read more...

Heritage Malta's next heritage trail will focus on Gozo and its folklore. The trail, entitled "The Gran Castello Experience," will be held on Wednesday evening and will focus on the Citadel and its history. An exhibition of recently acquired Gozitan ethnographic artefacts will also be inaugurated. Participants will be round the Citadel's fortifications and three actors wil also enact the legend of the finding of a golden calf on the hills of Ta' Gelmus, the story of Bernardo D'Opuo and the 1551 siege, and La Vallette's imprisonment in Gozo. This trail is the sixth in Heritage Malta's series of thematic heritage trails introduced earlier this year. Heritage Malta will also inaugurate an exhibition of recently acquired traditional objects such as kitchen utensils and agricultural tools at the Heritage Malta Gozo Area Office. All artefacts were obtained from Gozo and are therefore ... Read more...

Michael Curmi, from Xaghra, and Joshua Muscat, from Nadur, will both be ordained as deacons by the Bishop of Gozo Mgr Mario Grench on Tuesday 27 June at 6pm at the Cathedral in Gozo.