Pillar 03 · Festa & Traditions

The Good Friday Pageant in Żejtun

The Good Friday pageant in Żejtun is one of the largest in the south of Malta — and one of the most quietly affecting. Statues representing scenes of the Passion are carried slowly through the town in the early evening, accompanied by costumed figures and a silent crowd.

This article is a stub. We’ll publish a fuller piece — and a route map — as we gather the photographs.

The pageant

The Maltese Good Friday pageant tradition combines a procession of large statues — sometimes called vari — with costumed figures representing biblical characters from the Old and New Testaments: Romans, Pharisees, Apostles, Mary, the Magdalene, Veronica. The Żejtun pageant is one of the largest by statue count and by route length in the south of the island. It begins in the late afternoon, with the bands playing slow funeral marches, and unfolds at a deliberate, almost meditative pace. The crowd along the route stands quietly. There is no applause. Children carry symbolic items appropriate to their assigned roles. The pageant returns to St Catherine’s after dark.

If you want to attend, arrive an hour early to find a position along the route, dress modestly, and don’t applaud or talk loudly. Photography is welcome from the side of the route but not in front of it. [LOCAL FACT — Mattew to confirm this year’s start time, the route, and which families/confraternities are responsible for which statues.]

Why this pageant in particular

Maltese Good Friday pageants vary substantially in scale and feel from town to town. The Żejtun version is one of the larger by statue count and one of the slower by pace. The town’s geography helps: the long streets that radiate out from the parish square give the procession room to breathe, and the silence between groups carries unusually well. If you have only one Maltese Good Friday in you, Żejtun and Mosta are the two pageants most often recommended; they are very different in character, and Żejtun is the more meditative.

What this article will cover

  • The history of the pageant and its growth over the 20th century
  • The principal statues and what each scene represents
  • The costumed figures: who plays what, and why
  • This year’s route and start time
  • Where to stand, where not to stand, and how to photograph respectfully
  • What to do before and after the pageant in town

Read more on this pillar

Part of our Festa & Traditions pillar. Pair with other religious feasts through the year, visitor etiquette, and St Catherine’s parish church.

Mattew Cassar

Resident · Writer

Mattew writes zejtun.com from a flat above his grandfather’s old workshop on Triq San Girgor. He has lived in Żejtun for twenty-three of his thirty-one years.