As Notte Bianca returns in full force, 7 stages dedicated to different artistic disciplines will be dispersed all around Valletta on the 1st of October, with events kickstarting as early as 4pm! This year’s programme boasts an eclectic variety of genres encompassing local and international artists across different artistic routes which include Music, Dance, Theatre, Kids, Classics, Alternative and the Red route.
The 7 stages are the Upper Barrakka Gardens Stage, the Tat-Taraġ Stage (St. Lucia Steet), the Castille Square Stage, the Pjazza Teatru Rjal Stage, the Market Square Stage, the Main Stage (St. George’s Square) and the Alternative Stage - Down to Earth (Laparelli Gardens), all making their sonic presence in the festival! Kicking off Notte Bianca at 4pm is the Upper Barrakka Gardens Stage, featuring three special events from our Kids Route – KukkuŻejt, Darbtejn Insiru Tfal and Ġnien Maġiku. These events are targeted for families and children, with fantastical stories and theatrical performances, arts and crafts, magic shows and more! In the evening, this stage will transform into a Country music haven, as Country Garden shall feature heart-stealing country classics by the band, Salt Creek, together with Country Queen Marisa D’Amato and Marty Rivers, ‘The Maltese Falcon’.
At ‘Tat-Taraġ’, violin virtuoso George Curmi Puse’ will perform a medley of classical music and other well-known showpieces, followed by the Maltese icon and legend Freddie Portelli, who will bring the nostalgia with his popular vast sing-along repertoire, to truly remind us of when guys and girls still had their bell bottoms.
The stage at Castille Square shall offer a 45-minute thrilling concert of classical-crossover music accompanied by The Three Sopranos as well as new unreleased material freshly presented to the audiences from local contemporary folk band Skald and local pop band SterjoTipi. The show will end with a bang with a celebration of hit songs by Versatile Brass.
Pjazza Teatru Rjal will host two immersive projects by Italian artists. Il Mare Minore, a Sardinian music project citing inspiration from Sardinia’s own poets and writers, all while creating expressions of music. This will be followed by The Two Moons presents a theatrical retelling of narrative and poetic texts in Italian and Arabic from ‘The Thousand and One Nights’, interpolated by Italian poems and arias from the 16th and 17th century. Finally, Ivan Grech and the Voca Choir will take the stage for a concert of pop and classical music pieces. At Market Square, the Spiteri Lucas Band will entertain people with their performance Dipinto di Blu; as the name suggests, they will perform various Italian classics which you cannot help but sing along to. This will be followed by the unmissable musical artist Umberto Porcaro who will immortalise blues and root tunes through the magic of his masterful guitar playing. Raggae and ska music lovers can head down to the Alternative Stage, also referred to ‘Down To Earth’. If you can’t find your way, the percussion-based group Trakadum will guide you to the venue from Triton Square. This stage will host unique participating groups, such as the energetically charged ManaTapu, Tribal, and Fakawi.
The ‘Main Stage’, which is the highlight of this year’s programme, shall offer a vibrant celebration of pop music with local artists Klinsmann and The Mel Collective featuring Matthew James and Karin D. This year’s Notte Bianca will come to a grand close with the headlining act - Italian pop rock act ‘The Kolors’ - bridging Malta’s love for Italian music.
Diversity has always been at the heart of the jam-packed occasion with the festival's promise under the artistic direction of Antoine Farrugia, which is beautifully explained by the reference to Roy Orbison's song 'You Got It’ - "Anything you want, you got it!”, which promises something for everybody. For more information visit www.festivals.mt/nb
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