Valletta 2018 will see up to 1 million in audiences next year

A total of €10 million will be spent during 2018 when Valletta assumes the honour of European Capital of Culture for that year.

V18 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef announced today a programme of 140 exclusive projects and 400 activities across Malta, as he spoke of the five-year journey that took Malta into Valletta 2018.

“This programme is one of cultural vision,” Micallef said. “What distinguishes Malta is its ‘festa’ – an island-wide festa across Malta and Gozo, is the background to this programme.”

Micallef was expected audiences for all events to total 1 million throughout 2018, and that bookings in Valletta would be 10% higher than normal.

He also said new jobs would be created in the creative economy sector, which already employs 11,000. The V18 commit employs 45 people, with its work coming to an end in March 2019.

“Various V18 projects, as well as the International Baroque Festival, the Valletta Design Clusters, and the regeneration of Strait Street, and the rehabilitation of the Tritons Pjazza, all have the aim of reviving Valletta and rehabilitating urban zone. The aim is to make culture accessible to all,” Micallef said.

Micallef also said discussions are ongoing to create a Valletta Cultural Agency, to take forward the V18 legacy, and prepare for 2030 when Malta will once again be eligible to be a European Capital of Culture. 

V18 artistic director Mario Philip Azzopardi spoke about the creation of four areas across Valletta, with 20-minute cultural performances taking place every hour on the hour in each area – Pjazza Tritoni, Pjazza San Gwann, Pjazza Kastilja and Pjazza San Gorg.