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Feast of Imnarja at Nadur
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 Certainly worth a visit!  The people of Nadur sure know how to celebrate.  I'm not particularly enthusiastic about our village festas but this Nadur feast was something special.  Mnarja falls annually on June 29th and is a public holiday ... I arrived the day before on Thursday, but my friends Hermi and Simon (who have a farmhouse in the centre of Nadur) tell me the activities started quite a number of days earlier ...  Here are a selection of the photos I've taken ...

The Band Stand
 A band stand (known as il-plancier) is set up in the square in front of the church.  Throughout the days leading to the festa (the locals apparently celebrated for two weeks, one week for each of the patron saints!) bands would assemble on the stand and play to their hearts' delight.
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The Altar at the basilica
The basilica is luxurious on any ordinary day, but on feast days its walls are draped in beautiful damasque.  The procession with the statue of the patron saints has just left the church, but the congregation remains - admiring the beauty of their church ...
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Night time ...
It's now late and the streets of the village are lit up.  The church itself is lit up with various coloured bulbs.  The electricity bill must run in the hundreds, if not thousands!
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Time to celebrate ...


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The Nadur youngsters are notorious for their sense of fun.  On feast day itself the band was playing at eight in the morning!  These photos were taken at around lunch time.  The Nadur youngsters, some with red-painted faces and abdomens and sporting t-shirts with the number "29" on the back, jump up and down to the rhythm of the village band ... and a brass band imported from Germany for the occasion! 

Horserace
As part of the feast, traditional horseraces are held on the steep street leading to Rabat, and now also on a tarmaced-road in the vicinity of Nadur.  Four "beasts" took part in this particular race.  Some concerns have been expressed in the recent past on the stress these horses are put through on such warm days ... but I saw no signs of cruelty on the horses at this Nadur race.
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Procession with the statues
The procession has just ended and the statue of the two patron saints - Peter and Paul - is turned to face the crowd to the accompaniment of the band music and the bangs of the petards and fireworks.  As soon as the sound of the fireworks and petards die down, the statue is taken back into the church, the procession is formally concluded and the final antifona is played inside the church.

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