Christmas 2009

Newsletter Number 123

Il-Festi t-Tajba! This is the annual AboutMalta.com newsletter for Christmas. It is with great joy that for the eleventh consecutive Christmas I announce the various wonderful interactive features we’ve put together for all to enjoy during this festive season. We’ve been doing this since Christmas 1998 when MaltaMedia first went online to bring you the world’s first Maltese webcast of the midnight Christmas Mass from Ta’ Pinu in Gozo.

Through AboutMalta.com’s collaboration with the MaltaMedia Online Network we continue to bring you a number of Christmas online goodies, including special podcasts of traditional and contemporary Maltese music with a Christmas theme and a number of freshly produced video clips about Christmas traditions in the Maltese islands. Perhaps this year you’ll even try out a couple of the delicious Christmas recipes we’ve compiled for you. There’s lots more, so sit back and enjoy it all over the coming days.

We are also working on a review of the year 2009. As in previous years, this feature will be made available to the general public after Christmas day. It will also be followed by an elaborate review of the first decade of the 21st century, which I’ll tell you more about in January’s AboutMalta.com newsletter.

On behalf of the AboutMalta.com web team I’d like to wish you and all those close to you a very happy holiday season.

Awguri!

Toni Sant
Consulting Editor, aboutmalta.com

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1. Traditional Christmas in the Maltese Islands

The MaltaMedia Online Network has created a number of special video features about the traditional Maltese Christmas, in collaboration with Favourite Channel TV. Peter Bezzina explains the folk belief in L-Irwiegel or Għewejjed, mostly helded by farmers who used to keep special weather records between 13 and 24 December as this was thought to be the ideal period to work out the weather forecast for the coming year. In another video clip, Fr. Charles Vella shows his magnificent presepju (nativity scene) at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, where the traditional figurines known as pasturi are based on real people. The third video focuses on this year’s L-Istrina, the biggest philanthropic television event of the year in the Maltese Islands, which is now organized by the Malta Community Chest Fund on Saturday 26th December.

2. Listen to Christmas Music from Malta

To add to your listening enjoyment this season the MaltaMedia Online Network has produced special Christmas edition of Toni Sant ’s weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring new or rare Christmas recording by Particle Blue, Fr Karm Debattista mssp, JMJ Project and Freeway. For anyone looking for a more traditional sound, the special edition of Tisqifa għall-Għana Tagħna produced by the late Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop featuring Karmnu Debono l-Pikipakk (from Birkirkara) and Frans Mifsud ta’ Żaren ta’ Vestru (from Żejtun) singing traditional għana with a Christmas theme will once again be available through the MaltaMedia Online Network podcasts page from Christmas eve.

3. Traditional Maltese Recipes for Christmas

One of the most sought after items at Christmas time are the traditional recipes for such delicacies as Qagħaq tal-Għasel, Qagħaq tal-Kavelletti and Imbuljut. Although these special foods are available commercially, nothing beats the home-version. Why don’t you give these traditional Maltese Christmas recipes a try this year?