SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE HON. MRS. GIOVANNA DEBONO, MINISTER FOR GOZO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING SESSION OF "FEAST OF THE SUN" - EUROMED HERITAGE PROGRAMME - HOTEL TA' CENC SANNAT - FRIDAY, 6TH APRIL 2001 AT 9.00 A.M.

As the Minister responsible for Gozo affairs I would like to, extend my warm greetings to you all and welcome you to our island of Gozo, an island that notwithstanding its small physical dimensions is so rich in its artistic, historical and cultural heritage.

Throughout history, Gozo has contributed quite fairly in the cultural sphere. Ritual and cultural manifestations are indeed documented throughout our 7000-year old history with the oldest free-standing structures in the world, the '?gantija Temples, and its contemporary underground burial place, the Gozo Stone Circle also on our shores.

Rich historical and cultural evidence is highly confirmed in Gozo's contemporary life. It suffices to stroll around the old streets and alleys of our capital and villages, visit our baroque churches with all their splendour or attend theatrical, musical or other activities to get a notion of the dense cultural vein that characterise our daily life. With a taste of Mediterranean culture, Gozo's own cultural heritage is indeed impressive.

It is in this light that we are actually participating in the Euromed Heritage Programme. Gozo has a lot to offer and this is manifested in two of our most popular outdoor festivities. I am hereby referring to the Good Friday processions and Easter festivities organised in villages throughout Gozo, starting two days prior to Easter Sunday, and the annual week-long village festas, organised every week in different villages spanning the months of June, July, August and September.

These two particular feasts are distinct in their own nature, not only one from the other, but also in the way they are organised throughout the different villages. They have attracted University students and authors to research the subject. They have continued to attract locals and foreigners alike to flock to every activity organised throughout the festa days.

The two different celebrations, be they sombre as in Good Friday, or be they merry as in the traditional village festa, manifest a significant feature of the Gozitan character – and that is, devotion - devotion not only in the religious aspect of both festas but more so in the sense of commitment. Good Friday activities and the much waited for village festa are organised and partook by volunteers whose sense of commitment and responsibility towards society, tradition and culture is overwhelming.

Your visit to Gozo is quite timely. You yourselves may sense this, for in the coming days Easter festivities will commence. If you will have the opportunity to attend such festivities you will yourselves get a glimpse of how such celebrations stand at the centre of our social and cultural life.

Since the organisation and partaking in such activities have come down to us mainly through tradition we feel the responsibility to foster and promote such initiatives taken. We want our youth and younger generations, together with others still to come, to be able to inherit this heritage of ours. We want to protect it not only for its own sake, but also for the sake of our children. We want to develop and support these focal practices also with the aim of co-operation between different countries that have similar heritages.

It is with all this in mind that my Ministry has embraced the idea of participating in this regional programme for Euro-Mediterranean cultural heritage. We believe that through our participation the two popular local celebrations will be more appreciated, not solely by us Gozitans but more so by foreigners who will gain an insight into our deeply rooted, relatively unexplored, cultural heritage. The Euromed Programme of which benefits will be reaped for a long time to come, will certainly not only enhance our sense of identity but be a privileged means of facilitating comprehension between our various countries and cultures.