Malta has a special government agency, Festivals Malta, responsible for organizing festivals and cultural events. Launched in 2017, the agency took over the organization of Malta’s long-running festivals, including the famous Maltese Carnival. Since then, Festivals Malta has also established new festivals, significantly expanding the country’s cultural calendar.
In 2026, Festivals Malta announced the launch of the Valletta Guitar Festival, a new music festival to be held in September at various venues throughout Malta’s capital city, Valletta. The festival’s main goal is to bring together internationally acclaimed musicians under the artistic direction of Simon Schembri, a Maltese-born guitarist based primarily in France, and in collaboration with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Pjazza Teatru Rjal.
The Valletta Guitar Festival celebrates the versatility of the guitar and its remarkable ability to cross genres. During the festival, musicians introduce audiences to various guitar traditions and genres, including classical, jazz, Latin American, gypsy swing, tango, world music, and more.
The inaugural festival was small and intimate, featuring three concerts over three days. The Extraordinary Guitar Night, held at Malta’s historic Teatru Manoel theater, opened the festival and featured performances by Vincent Bourgeyx, Yamandu Costa, Quatuor Éclisses, Rudi Flores, Sébastien Giniaux, Franco Luciani, and Sandro Zerafa. The concert showcased several different guitar traditions.
The second concert, Encounters with the Latin Guitar, was also held at the Teatru Manoel. Focusing on Brazilian music traditions, including choro and samba, it featured Yamandu Costa and an ensemble of musicians playing the seven-string guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin, accordion, and percussion.
On the third day, the festival culminated with the open-air Final Symphonic Concert featuring Quatuor Éclisses and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert took place at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, an open-air theater located on the site of the former Royal Opera House in Valletta.
In addition to live performances, the Valletta Guitar Festival program includes workshops hosted by the Malta Society of Arts. These workshops allow musicians to work directly with renowned guitarists. For example, the inaugural festival offered a tango and gypsy swing guitar workshop with Rudi Flores and Sébastien Giniaux, a jazz guitar workshop with Sandro Zerafa, and a classical guitar workshop with Quatuor Éclisses.
All concerts and workshops at the Valletta Guitar Festival require paid admission, though it is quite affordable. At the inaugural festival, workshop participation fees were €4.55, standard ticket prices for all three concerts were €13.64, and concession ticket prices (for full-time students, people over the age of 60, and European Disability Card holders) were €9.09.
Photo: festivals.mt
