Gozo Events September 2026: Festas, Pride & Puppets

Our Top Picks

Gozo Pride

The parade sets off from Independence Square in Victoria at 19:00 and walks up to Villa Rundle Gardens, with an afterparty running from 22:00 through to three in the morning: DJs, drag performances and a great deal of glitter. It falls at the start of Malta Pride week.

Gozo International Puppet Festival, Għarb

Three days of puppetry in Għarb under the theme Puppets Without Borders, with companies from several countries performing in the village square and around it. Għarb will be familiar to anyone who has watched The Madame Blanc Mysteries, so this is a good excuse to see the square doing something other than standing still.

Liquid Spirit Gozo

A five-day house and soul takeover with an international DJ and PA line-up, run as a programme of separate events rather than one fixed venue: villa gatherings, club nights, boat parties and sunset sessions. Worth booking ahead if you want the boat party.

Village Festas & Folk Events

September closes the Gozo festa season, and this year there are five parish feasts that fall inside the month.

Festa Marija Bambina, Xagħra

The biggest event on the September calendar, and it builds over the best part of a week. Marija Bambina means the infant Mary, and the feast marks the Nativity of Our Lady.

The Marċ tal-Inkurunazzjoni (the Coronation March) on 2 September ends at midnight with the Tlugħ tal-Istatwa, the moment the titular statue is brought out and raised onto its pedestal. The Marċ Grandjuż, the Grand March, follows on 5 September. On 6 September the Marċ tad-Dimostrazzjoni, the Demonstration March, brings the statue out of the Church of Jesus of Nazareth and down to Victory Square.

Each of these opens with what the programmes call the Bidu tal-Marċ Brijuż, the start of the boisterous march. Brijuż is the word Gozitans use for the loud, brass-heavy, thoroughly cheerful end of the festa spectrum, as opposed to the solemn processions. If you only have one night, make it that one.

Feast day itself is 8 September, which is also a national holiday. If you’re staying on for the day, we’ve written about what to do in Xagħra.

Festa tal-Madonna tal-Karmnu, Xlendi (The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel)

Xlendi’s feast of Our Lady of Carmel, with the statue carried down to the bay. Read more about the 1964 storm that formed its origin story on our Xlendi feast page.

Festa tal-Madonna tal-Grazzja, Victoria (The feast of Our Lady of Graces)

Victoria’s third feast of the summer and the last of Gozo’s season, held at the Capuchins’ church on the Marsalforn road. Usually this feasts closes out the summer festa season, read more on the Our Lady of Graces page.

Festa San Pawl, Munxar (The feast of St Paul)

Munxar usually celebrates the Feast of Saint Paul at the end of May, this year the festivities were pushed back to September so that they didn’t clash with Malta’s 2026 General Election.

Festa Ġesù Nazzarenu, Xagħra (The feast of Jesus of Nazareth)

Xagħra’s second feast of the month, and a smaller, more local affair than Marija Bambina.

Food & Traditional Culture

Two village food nights land in the same week, and both are free to walk into.

Traditions, Wine, Olive Oil & Honey Festival, Għasri

Għasri’s square turns into an open-air kitchen for the evening: roast pork, seasonal dishes, homemade bits and pieces, with live music, dancing and a family area for children. Għasri is one of the smallest villages on the island, which is exactly why this one is worth the drive.

Xewkija Beer Fest

The first year for this one. Beer, food stalls and live music in Ta’ Blankas Olive Grove, run by the Xewkija Local Council. An olive grove is a better setting for a beer festival than a village square, and there is shade if you arrive early.

Top Tip: both of these run late and neither has parking to speak of. Għasri in particular has one road in. Park on the outskirts and walk the last few minutes rather than trying your luck in the square.

Music

Levant Gozo Music Festival

An open-air festival of live music with a retro visual identity, and free to attend.

The Liquid Spirit programme also runs 11 to 15 September, and the Pride afterparty is on the 5th. Both are covered above.

Family & Kids

Youth for Youths

A morning of games and activities for children aged eight to twelve, built around teamwork, confidence and making friends. Free, which makes it an easy Wednesday.

The Puppet Festival in Għarb also belongs here. It runs across the last weekend of the month and works for adults and children equally.

Art & Exhibitions

Strange Rocks

A collective exhibition by Mary Debrincat at the Xewkija Windmill, open daily through most of the month. The windmill itself is worth the stop even if the art is not your thing.

Between Words

Thalia Stones shows paintings drawn from a lifetime of work, described by the artist as shaped by love, family, loss and discovery.

Captured Moments

Oils and acrylics by Josanne Mifsud Pikutzki, all of them marine subjects. Runs into early October.

Public Holidays in September

Two national holidays fall this month, and both affect opening hours and bus timetables.

8 September, Victory Day (Jum il-Vitorja, literally “day of the victory”), marking the end of the Great Siege of 1565.

21 September, Independence Day.

Shops and some restaurants close on both, and the Gozo Channel ferry runs a holiday timetable. If you are travelling between the islands on either date, check the schedule the night before rather than turning up.

September is Gozo at its most itself: a week of fireworks in Xagħra, puppeteers taking over a square in Għarb, a parade through Victoria, and the sea still warm enough to be worth the walk down. If you’re planning a trip around a particular feast, get in touch and we’ll tell you which night is actually the one to be there for.