The long Maltese summers herald festa time. No visit to the Islands between May and September would be complete without seeing a village festa in full swing. It's a chance to catch a slice of Island life close up and be part of a tradition that stretches back to the 16 th century.

Two words define a Maltese village festa: saints and fireworks. The week-long festivities celebrate the parish patron saint. The celebrations themselves end in the grand finale of a firework display. Along the way, there is plenty of brass band music, peeling of bells and street life.

Festas may seem chaotic exuberance at times, but a lot of careful planning goes into organising the week. And the event is still very much a spiritual affair.

You won't need to plan though to see one while you're here. In summer, there's at least a couple of festas every weekend. Hotels and local tour operators often organise evening excursions to the main village festas.

There is something unusually captivating about a typical Maltese village festa. It is a time for both spiritual contemplation and for the whole parish to come together.

The festa is the main social event in the village year. Festa week is the outcome of months of hard work by willing volunteers and villagers feel a strong, close-knit camaraderie after so many months of preparation.

Under sultry, summer skies, families meet in the central village square to chat, joke and catch up on local news. Children have an excuse to stay out late and eat traditional festa snacks, which include a rich, colourful nougat.

The church is illuminated with thousands of bulbs and festooned with decorations inside and out. Parishioners do the same to their own houses, often inviting family and friends over for a celebratory drink and to admire their handiwork.

The church bells that ring all week are more than just a call to mass. They mark five days of spiritual preparation during which whole families flock to church.

Celebrations begin with three days of prayer leading up to the feast day. Churches hold vespers and mass with special hymns dedicated to the patron saint.

On the eve of the feast, vespers and mass are at around 6pm. Then, the village band clubs hold their concerts. Later on, around 10pm, is the fireworks display, known as the 'giggifogu' a corruption of the Italian 'giochi di fuoco', meaning literally 'fire games'. The Maltese Islands are well known for their splendid fireworks.

On the feast day itself, Solemn High Mass is early in the morning at around 9.00. The priest will give a eulogy on the patron saint and call on his parishioners to lead more exemplary lives. The day is then relatively quiet until the evening when vespers are held again. The statue of the patron saint is carried shoulder high to the accompaniment of brass bands and showered with confetti as it wends its way through the streets.

Throughout the week, there is a sense of spontaneity and merrymaking. Villages and town parish squares buzz with people well into the early hours. After such a build up, no one wants to see festa week end.