GozoNews.Com

In a bid to further boost cultural tourism to Gozo in the leaner season, the Gharb local council, in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo, is organising a weekend-long festival of cultural events in March.

Seħer il-Punent is a festival of culture spread over three days, bringing to the forefront the particular characteristics of the picturesque Gozitan village. The village square will be the main venue for concerts and other popular events but places of interest, including churches, countryside chapels, museums and heritage sites, and the Wied il-Mielah valley will also feature as part of organised tours that are expected to generate a particular interest from local and foreign visitors.

Local bands, local personalities, traditional music and food, as well as fireworks, will also play a part alongside the infiorata tradition that is slowly becoming enshrined in the village’s way of celebration.

Speaking during the press conference to announce this cultural festival, Minister Debono said that Gozo is already slowly gaining a reputation for particular events that already prove popular with local and foreign tourists visiting the island, citing the annual production of lyric operas by the two theatres in Victoria in autumn and the Carnival weekend in winter.

She said that cultural events form a niche area that Gozo can develop further in an attempt to entice more visitors to travel to the island during the less popular months, and events such as Seħer il-Punent will help to address the seasonality issue.

Referring to seasonality, Minister Debono reminded that in the last Budget Speech, the Prime Minister announced a reduction of 25% for the license fee for all catering establishments operating in Gozo, with Gozo Channel Co Ltd and the tourism establishments in Gozo also jointly offering schemes promoting free travelling to Gozo.

Minister Debono also spoke about the launch of a magazine last week aimed towards further promoting Gozo-holidays in Malta and added that Government will be announcing further initiatives in the coming weeks, aimed towards boosting domestic tourism to Gozo particularly in the leaner months.

The Seher il-Punent cultural festival will be held in Gharb between the long weekend of Friday 16th and Sunday 18th of March.