Valletta Green Festival will take place next week

The theme of the event will be the protection of natural habitats

This year, the ninth edition of the annual Valletta Green Festival will take place from Thursday, 28 April to Sunday, 1 May. As the event’s organisers note that the festival is synonymous with spring in Valletta, visitors will have the chance to marvel at beautiful flower decorations and the island’s greenery.

The festival’s main attraction will be a 500-square-metre frog constructed out of 50,000 plants and herbs. Apart from being an impressive and beautiful attraction, however, this flower decoration will also serve as a commentary on the habitat destruction of the Painted Frog, Malta’s only amphibian.

It follows then that the theme of the 2022 Valletta Green Festival is the protection of natural habitats and the effect they have on flora and fauna. In addition to this, the event will highlight the importance of public and green spaces.

“This festival illustrates the government’s vision to keep its promise to introduce more urban greening. These activities strengthen the artistic and cultural aspects, not only because of how one makes good use of our green and public spaces in cultural events, but also because nature is one of the most important sources of inspiration, and without it, we lose a significant part of our identity,” the Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici shared in a press release.

Valletta Green Festival (Valletta Cultural Agency on Facebook)

An informative event

Besides offering attractions, the Valletta Green Festival will also serve another purpose: to educate visitors about recycling, biodiversity, and the conservation of natural resources. Minister of the Environment Miriam Dalli underlined this, sharing that the government wants to offer citizens an informative space where they can find out what the ministry is doing to promote a better and safer environment.

As such, the organisers will set up stalls where various experts in the fields of environment and energy can discuss green initiatives with the festival’s visitors. Taking a case in point, the Building and Construction Authority will present eco-friendly and economically viable technologies that can heat and cool buildings whilst reducing carbon emissions.

Similarly, WasteServ will participate and present its “Separate right, make our future bright” campaign to promote recycling and teach visitors how to sort waste correctly. Ambjent Malta and the Environmental Resources Authority, among others, will also have stalls at the festival.