An event held recently at Casa San Paolo in Buġibba – Festi Irħula – let the elderly residents relive that much cherished time of the year when they would celebrate their village feast and patron saint with friends and family.
Every year, the home’s staff, together with a group of residents, including the very active Gaetano d’Amico who is president of the residents’ committee at Casa San Paolo, decorate the elderly home to perfection, recreating an authentic village feast atmosphere, complete with the sounds of church bells and fireworks.
This year, the event meant so much more to the residents, having spent four months of lockdown inside the home and not being able to see their loved ones.
A number of stalls serving hotdogs, beer and drinks were set up around the swimming pool and residents could enjoy Maltese folklore music playing in the background. The residents were also treated to Maltese food, as well as ice cream and imqaret, the traditional Maltese sweet pastry filled with dates.
Residents and their relatives happily threw shredded paper flakes and confetti from their balconies, which were decorated with colourful streamers and balloons, as well as with banners, which are usually hung in streets during a feast. The highlight of the evening was a surprise visit by the Nicolò Isouard Band of Mosta, of which Nazzareno Vassallo, Vassallo Group’s chairman, is president ad vitam. The band played a number of festive marches, to which the residents sang, clapped and danced.
