Xlendi Feast 2026: The Festa of Our Lady of Carmel

Xlendi is one of the bays everyone photographs, a narrow inlet of blue water below the cliffs at the end of the road down from Victoria. Once a year it holds a feast, and it is one that owes its existence to a storm. Xlendi celebrates Our Lady of Carmel, il-Madonna tal-Karmnu, and in 2026 the festa falls on Sunday 6 September, the first Sunday of the month.

When Is the Xlendi Feast 2026?

The feast day is Sunday 6 September 2026, held at the little chapel of Our Lady of Carmel on Triq tal-Għajn, above the bay. It is a smaller, later celebration than the big village festas, and the dates can be a moving target, so two things are worth knowing. The festa itself lands on the first Sunday of September. The traditional games, a Xlendi fixture in their own right, run earlier in the season, often in August; last year they fell on the 17th. Dates shift from year to year, so it is worth checking the current listing before you plan around it.

Top Tip: Our Lady of Carmel’s universal feast day is 16 July, which is why you will sometimes see that date attached to Xlendi by mistake. The village holds its own celebration at the end of the summer instead, so aim for early September, not July.

How the Feast Unfolds

Xlendi’s is a chapel feast rather than a full village festa, so it is a gentler affair than San Pawl up in Munxar or the grand parish feasts elsewhere on the island. The celebration centres on the Carmel chapel and the waterfront, with mass, music and a procession that carries the statue of Our Lady around the bay she watches over. The games earlier in the season draw their own crowd, a bit of good-natured competition that has become as much a part of the Xlendi summer as the feast day itself.

Confirmed 2026 Dates So Far

Sunday 6 September 2026: the feast of Our Lady of Carmel, at the chapel on Triq tal-Għajn above Xlendi Bay. The games and any surrounding events are usually confirmed closer to the time.

The Feast a Storm Left Behind

In August 1964 a storm hit Xlendi hard. In its wake, the rector of the day, Fr Ġużepp Curmi, launched a collection among the villagers to have a statue made in thanksgiving that the community had come through it. The result arrived the following year: a statue of Our Lady of Carmel, made in Milan in 1965, and, unusually, worked in papier-mâché rather than carved. It is the statue still carried at the feast today, and the reason Xlendi’s celebration sits in the storm season of late summer rather than on Carmel’s July date.

What Makes the Xlendi Feast Special

Two things, and the first is that origin. Most feast statues honour a saint or a founding; Xlendi’s marks a specific bad night in August 1964 and the relief that followed it. Knowing that as you watch the papier-mâché figure carried along the water gives the whole thing a weight its size might not suggest.

The second is the setting. Few Gozo feasts happen quite so close to the sea. The bay, the cliffs and the old watchtower make a backdrop the big inland parishes cannot match, and on a warm September evening, with the celebration reflected in the water, Xlendi makes a strong case for the prettiest feast on the island.

Where to Stay for the Xlendi Feast

Xlendi is one of the easier feasts to stay right on top of. The bay has hotels, apartments and guesthouses within a few minutes of the chapel, plus the restaurants along the front for dinner before the evening events. If Xlendi is full, Victoria is a ten-minute drive up the hill and central for everywhere else.

Getting There and Home Again

Xlendi sits at the bottom of the valley below Victoria, reached on the road down through Fontana. Buses run from Victoria to the bay but ease off in the evening, so for the later part of the feast plan on Bolt or eCabs to get home. Parking down in the bay is tight at the best of times and tighter on feast day, so arrive early or leave the car in Victoria and come down by taxi. Full details are in our guide to getting to and around Gozo.

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

FAQ

Xlendi celebrates Our Lady of Carmel on Sunday 6 September 2026, the first Sunday of the month, at the chapel above the bay. The traditional games are usually held earlier, in August.

Our Lady of Carmel’s universal feast day is 16 July, but Xlendi holds its celebration on the first Sunday of September. The timing goes back to the statue’s origin, made in thanksgiving after a storm hit the bay in August 1964.

Yes. Xlendi Bay lies within Munxar’s parish, which is why the two share streets and clergy. Xlendi celebrates Our Lady of Carmel on the first Sunday of September; in 2026 Munxar’s San Pawl feast follows on 13 September.

The statue of Our Lady of Carmel was made in Milan in 1965, in papier-mâché, commissioned by the rector Fr Ġużepp Curmi after a collection among the villagers in thanksgiving following the storm of August 1964.

Yes. The celebration and the games are free and open to all. Bring cash for the food stalls and a table at one of the bay’s restaurants if you want dinner with a view.

Xlendi’s feast is a quieter, seaside counterpart to the big parish festas, and an easy one to fold into an early-September trip. Munxar celebrates San Pawl the following Sunday, Victoria marks Our Lady of Graces that same day, and our September What’s On rounds up the rest of the month.