No matter where you go in Gozo during Lent and Easter, you will experience reflective, inspirational and compelling moments.

Here’s a schedule of events that promises unique encounters with the upcoming local rituals and divine ceremonies of the season.

Whether you are an active participant or merely an observer on the sidelines, you are sure to remain mesmerised by the variety of family activities, religious installations, processions, art exhibitions, concerts, dramatic performances and holy functions that fill up the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday in Gozo.

The island’s capital, Victoria, and its neighbouring towns are renowned for adding to the spirit of this prayerful season. While various artistic and sacred exhibitions are displayed inside chapels, convent halls and even in private homes,

The O Quam Tristis concert at the Don Bosco Oratory in the capital on 13th March presents a musical meditation inspired by Lenten themes. 

Youngsters are also given a role in these hallowed commemorations, with the opportunity to carry miniature statues depicting Jesus’s Passion on their young shoulders during the children’s procession, Ħallu t-Tfal Jiġu Għandi (Let the Children Come to Me) on 22nd March.

On the night before Palm Sunday on 29th March, the roads in Victoria become a living stage, showcasing the annual Passion play, L-Imsallab fi Triqatna. As the actors portray the dramatic circumstances surrounding Jesus’s life, agony and death, the audience walks alongside the performers and experiences each scene in a deeply personal way.

In the Fontana suburb, during I Fiori Della Passione, the church parvis is covered in beautiful floral designs from 13th March, symbolising Christ’s suffering and encouraging contemplation of Easter’s significance. This is further enhanced by the Lux Lucernae event on Maundy Thursday on 2nd April, when burning candles in the shape of a cross are laid out to create a peaceful and spiritual atmosphere.

In Munxar, a similar display in the church square features an illuminated cross formed by fjakkoli, while Kerċem’s Hebdomada Sancta on 27th March and Lux Crucifixus on 2nd April include religious displays, biblical exhibitions and candlelit processions.

The village of Għajnsielem unveils another edition of Is-Salib, Ġesù, u Int (The Cross, Jesus, and You). Every year, a small but dedicated group of volunteers the Għajnsielem Events Team, led by Franco Ciangura, works tirelessly to construct stunning installations from recycled materials, illuminating the skyline alongside the parish church. The idea originated during the pandemic, when 800 wooden crosses were placed on the stairs leading up to the church as a memorial to COVID-19 victims. In each subsequent year, this concept evolved into a 15-metre-high steel cross covered in wooden pallets; a 28-metre-high iron cross adorned with intricate wood patterns, along with a seven-metre-high model of Jesus crafted from wire and transparent netting; and a 20-metre-high cross in a steel structure overlaid with multicoloured piping.This year, yet another illuminated cross, reaching a height of eight metres, was constructed in a metal frame wrapped in white mesh, with the figure of Jesus carved from wooden pallets and 12 large candles circling the cross. The wooden room at its base displays a contemporary Via Crucis reflecting on present-day issues. Olive trees planted in the surrounding green areas recreate the Garden of Gethsemane, while a more traditional Way of the Cross is dotted around the church square.

Throughout Lent, the interior rustic décor with cosy carpets and cushions offers a tranquil prayer room for people to pause in their daily life, meditate on the season’s message of hope and hold prayer meetings for youths. On the evening of Maundy Thursday and the morning of Good Friday, the room’s setting will be completely transformed for ongoing reenactments of the Last Supper, with live actors seated at the fully laid table on one side and visitors entering in groups to observe from the other, as the lamb and other food is cooked in the little kitchen at the back of the room and served to Jesus and the apostles. On Easter Sunday, the ringing church bells announce the joy of the Risen Christ, amid other activities for both adults and children. The most important feast day for Roman Catholics is evident in the centuries-old Easter Sunday processions, with devotees carrying the statue of l-Irxoxt while running enthusiastically through the streets of Gozitan towns, accompanied by happy cheers from the crowds.

Family fun and games can be enjoyed at the Hip Hop Hurray Easter celebration on 5th April at Villa Rundle, Victoria, while the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Ta’ Dbieġi Artisan Village in Għarb on 10th April will entertain kids during the holidays.

From 9th April, artisans and cultural enthusiasts can visit the Xewkija Windmill for an exhibition titled Woven in Faith: Devotion, Crafts, and Easter Heritage, merging handmade creations, artworks, beliefs and customs.

No matter where you go in Gozo during Lent and Easter, you will definitely experience reflective, inspirational and compelling moments that will remain imprinted in your memory long after the titular statues are returned to their niches.