Sannat Feast 2026: The Festa of Santa Margerita

Ta’ Sannat celebrates its patron, St Margaret, on Sunday 26 July 2026, and the celebrations are already underway: the statue came out of her niche on 16 July, and the village keeps festa hours from now until the end of the month. For a village of Sannat’s size, the feast is remarkably outsized, with six guest bands from across Gozo, fireworks supplied by nine factories, a midnight drone show and a square that sits a short walk from the Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs, the highest point on the island. If you’re on Gozo in late July, this is the fortnight’s main event.

When Is the Sannat Feast 2026?

The feast day is Sunday 26 July 2026, the climax of a programme that began in mid-July. The full programme is published by the parish , and the church functions are streamed live on the parish Facebook page and the Sannat Parish YouTube channel.

Top Tip: The 11am mass on the feast day is celebrated in English, a small courtesy to visitors that not every feast offers, and a gentle way in if the full Maltese festa liturgy feels like the deep end.

What Makes Sannat’s Festa Special

Start with the band. The Santa Margerita Band is one of Gozo’s best-travelled, a fixture as the invited guest at feasts across the island; if you’ve been to a Gozo festa this summer, there’s a fair chance you’ve already heard Sannat’s musicians playing someone else’s saint back to their niche. The last weekend of July is when the favours come back in brass: Żebbuġ, Xewkija, Xagħra, Għajnsielem, Victoria’s La Stella and Qala’s Ite ad Joseph all send their bands to Sannat across the feast’s final days, six guests for one small village, with Qala’s band closing the whole festa with the final march.

Then there’s the saint. St Margaret is the patron of pregnant women, and the eve of the feast carries one of the most touching traditions in Gozo’s festa calendar: the blessing of unborn children at the feet of her statue, alongside the presentation of the parish’s babies. Feasts are usually described in terms of their fireworks; this one has a morning that outdoes them.

And then, admittedly, the fireworks. Sannat’s are supplied by nine factories from across Malta, burst over the island’s highest ground, and this year include a show of drones and pyrotechnics synchronised to music at midnight on the final Friday, the kind of thing you’d expect from Santa Marija’s budget, not a village this size.

We watch Sannat’s aerial displays from Kerċem, one ridge over, and they hold their own against feasts three times the size.

If you are new to Gozo feasts, the petards, band marches and processions, then our Gozo village feasts guide explains the traditions behind what you’re watching.

Confirmed 2026 Dates

Saturday 18 July, 9.30am: the children’s demonstration, with the statue of St Margaret carried through the streets by the village’s children, accompanied by the Santa Margerita Band.

Monday 20 July: the liturgical feast of St Margaret, with the traditional horse race organised by the Local Council and aerial fireworks from 6pm.

Tuesday 21 July, 8.30pm: the traditional village dinner in the Church Square, with folk dancers, the parish choirs and local singers.

Wednesday 22 July, 9pm: the Annual Symphonic Concert by the Santa Margerita Band in the square, ending with fire from the rooftops.

Thursday 23 July, 9.15pm: the Marċ Brijuż, the exuberant Thursday march with the Żebbuġ and Xewkija bands, ending near midnight with the statue raised on its pedestal and a show of lights and fire synchronised to music.

Friday 24 July, 9.30pm: the demonstration with the statue, joined by Xagħra’s Victory Band, closing at midnight with the drone and fireworks show synchronised to music.

Saturday 25 July, eve of the feast: the blessing of unborn children at the 10am mass; the solemn translation of the relic at 6.30pm; the joint evening march by the Santa Margerita and Għajnsielem San Ġużepp bands from 9.30pm; and at 11.45pm, Shades of Flames, the traditional fireworks and synchronised fire display in Santa Margerita Square.

Sunday 26 July, the feast day: pontifical mass at 9am led by the Bishop of Gozo, mass in English at 11am, the procession from 7.45pm with the La Stella Band in concert in the square, fireworks on the statue’s return at 10.15pm, and the Ite ad Joseph Band’s closing march at 10.30pm.

Tuesday 28 July, 7.45pm: the festa’s gentlest ending, Big Bingo in the square, after the statue returns to her niche.

A Festa in Sainte Victoire

Madame Blanc fans, this one’s yours. Before production moved to Għarb, the first series of The Madame Blanc Mysteries was filmed here in Sannat, with St Margaret’s Square and its church standing in for Sainte Victoire, and that square is exactly where the festa happens. The band marches, the processions, the fireworks and the Big Bingo all play out on the spot where Jean first arrived, which makes Sannat’s feast the closest thing there is to seeing Sainte Victoire with the volume turned up.

The setting works just as hard without a camera. The Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs are a walk from the square, best in the golden hour before the evening celebrations begin, and below them sits Mġarr ix-Xini, the fjord-like inlet that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt turned into 1970s France for By the Sea in 2015. Swim where Hollywood shot in the afternoon, walk the cliffs at sunset, and be back in Sainte Victoire when the band strikes up.

Where to Stay for the Sannat Feast

Sannat is farmhouse country, with self-catering stays in the village and towards Munxar, plus the luxurious Ta’ Ċenċ hotel on the plateau itself if you want the cliffs on your doorstep. The usual feast-week advice applies: a street or two back from the square buys you quieter mornings than a balcony over the celebrations.

Getting There and Home Again

Sannat is around ten minutes from Victoria and twenty from the Mġarr ferry terminal. Buses connect the village with Victoria but thin out after about 9pm, exactly when the festa peaks, so plan on Bolt or eCabs for the journey home. If you’re driving, park on the approach roads and walk in, as the streets around the square close for the celebrations.

You can find full details in our guide to getting to and around Gozo.

FAQ

Sannat’s festa is the best argument on Gozo that village size and feast size have nothing to do with each other. The season accelerates from here, with Qala’s San Ġużepp the following weekend and the full calendar in our village feasts guide. Our July What’s On guide has our top picks for everything else happening around the feast.