The following is the list of national holidays:

• 31 March  -  Freedom Day
  A commemorative ceremony is held at the War Memorial at Floriana. During the afternoon, traditional regatta boat races are held in Grand Harbour.

• 7 June  -  Sette Giugno
  Commemorative Ceremony at Palace Square, Valletta, in remembrance of the incidents of the 7th June 1919.

• 8 September  -  Victory Day
  Commemorative ceremony in Valletta, to celebrate the lifting of the 1565 siege against the Turks, the capitulation of the French in 1800, and the siege of the Axis powers in 1943. the traditional colourful and keenly contested boat race or regatta, is held at the Grand Harbour in the afternoon. Festivities are also held at Senglea, Naxxar and Mellieha in Malta and at Xaghra in Gozo.

• 21 September  -  Independence Day
  Malta attained its Independence in 1964. A full programme of activities takes place in various localities.

• 13 December  -  Republic Day
  Malta became a Republic in 1974 by resolution of the House of Representatives. Celebrations, including horse races at Marsa, are held to commemorate the event.

The following is the list of public holidays:

• 1 January  -  New Year's Day

• 10 February  -  Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck
  Feast of St.Paul’s Shipwreck This feast commemorates the shipwreck of St.Paul in Malta in 60 A.D. an event registered in the Acts of the Apostles.

• 19 March  -  Feast of St Joseph
  St. Joseph Feast celebrated at Rabat.

• 10 April  -  Good Friday
  This is a day of general mourning: cinemas, places of entertainment and offices are kept closed. Good Friday pageants are held at about 17.00hrs in 14 different towns and villages. During these pageants, a number of life-size statues depicting scenes from the passion and death of Jesus Christ are carried shoulder high in procession along the main streets of the particular locality. Men and women personifying Biblical characters from the Old and New Testament, dressed in period costumes, take part in the processions.

• 1 May  -  Worker's Day
  The feast of St. Joseph the Worker is also celebrated.

• 29 June  -  Feast of St Peter and St Paul
  Known in Maltese as 'Mnarja'. This is a traditional folkloristic event. The festivities open on the eve of Mnarja with open-air folk-singing and a musical programme at Buskett Gardens which continues up till the early hours of the 29th day of June. Maltese dishes are served for the occasion with fried rabbit being a tradional speciality of the evening. On the 29th, activities at Buskett continue with band marches and an agrarian exhibition. During the afternoon, traditional horse races are held at Saqqajja Hill, Rabat. The word Mnarja is derived from Luminarja (illumination), when Mdina, Malta’s medieval capital, was illuminated by bonfires for the occasion.

• 15 August  -  Feast of the Assumption
  Festivities are celebrated at Mqabba, Qrendi, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Attard, Mosta and Victoria in Gozo.

• 8 December  -  Feast of the Immaculate Conception

• 25 December  -  Christmas Day
  Yuletide in Malta is primarily the season for family parties. Young boys and members of a lay Catholic organisation participate in the evening processions of December 24, with the statue of Baby Jesus held in all towns and villages. The highlight is the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, during which a child relates the story of the nativity.