Tomorrow, Sunday, the 4th of July, the locality of Gharb will be celebrating the feast of the Visitation of Our Lady to St. Elizabeth. Since 2003, on a yearly basis the Gharb Local Council continues the tradition of creating the ‘Infiorata’ on the Church Parvis.

Preparatory works related with the design of the ‘Infiorata’ are underway and tomorrow, the feast day at 2pm local volunteers including both young children and adults will gather together to start laying the flowers and leave petals forming the design.

The ‘Infiorata’ consists of a carpet made of fresh flowers petals and leaves cut in small pieces arranged together to form various thematic designs. The ‘Infiorata’ is an old Italian tradition, the oldest one originating in ‘Gerano’ the twinned village of Gharb which is found in the outskirts of Rome Italy. This tradition in Gerano dates back to around the 17th Century. The most particular aspect of the ‘Infiorata’ held in Gerano is that the period in which it takes place, which is April, lacks from a variety of flowers. The ‘Infiorata’ in Gerano being the oldest one is recorded with many photos which can be found in the archives where one can find pictures dating back to the war period. Another particularity of this infiorata is that it takes place in the village feast dedicated to the ‘Madonna del Cuore’ and not like other localities, which takes place in the feast of the Corpus Domini.

In 2002, the Gharb Local Council signed a twinning agreement with the Gerano Local Council. Upon signing the agreement cultural and educational exchanges amongst other were held between both villages. In 2003 on an initiative of Mayor Mr. David Apap and with the financial help of the Malta Tourism Authority the Gharb Local Council decided to add the ‘Infiorata’ as part of the village feast activities. This was held on the church parvis and the design was created by local artists Mr Mario Camilleri Cauchi and his son Ruben Camilleri Cauchi. The preparation was done by local children and youths. This proved to be a success and attracted both locals and tourists. This was also the fist time that such an event was held on the islands. After the success of the first ‘Infiorata’ in 2003, the Council decided to add this event to its annual cultural calendar and hold it again yearly on the occasion of the village feast.

Photo shows the Gharb ‘Infiorata’ in 2008.

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