Students pick oranges and lemons from San Anton Palace orchard in preparation for Festa Ċitru

The President’s Kitchen Garden next to San Anton Palace in Attard will host Festa Ċitru on Sunday, the last such event for President George Vella.

The event starts at 10am and oranges and lemons picked from the Presidential Palace gardens, and products made from oranges will be sold. All the proceeds will go to The Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation.

A girl picking an orange from a tree in preparation for Festa Citru (Photo: Office of the President)

On Tuesday morning, President Vella and Mrs Miriam Vella officially launched the 15th edition of Festa Ċitru during an activity with students from the Attard primary school and the Victoria primary school in the orchard of San Anton Palace.

The grounds have around 600 citrus trees, the majority of which are orange trees and the children enthusiastically helped the gardeners pick up the oranges and place them in crates.

President George Vella speaking to school children who helped palace gardeners pick up oranges and lemons (Photo: Office of the President)

Preparations for Festa Ċitru were also underway in the kitchen of San Anton Palace with bakers making cakes and other confectionery items for sale on Sunday.

This year, olive oil pressed from olives harvested from trees in The President’s Kitchen Garden will also be on sale.

Vella encouraged the students to appreciate the work of the gardeners who take care of the citrus trees throughout the year. He also reminded the students that Festa Ċitru is another event organised to raise much-needed funds for The Malta Community Chest Fund to buy medicines, among other things, and to be able to help people in need.