INTEGRARTI
Celebrating Inclusion Through Art!
Spearheaded by the Port Regional Council, co-financed by Arts Council Malta and realised by the Artistic Directors Francesca Zammit and Joseph Galea, Festival Integrarti aims to harness the power of the arts to foster new relationships and strengthen community ties. This initiative is dedicated to building a more open, inclusive, and culturally vibrant Region, while also developing the skills and capacities of local artists and practitioners to support these goals.
Rather than being a one-off event, the festival is conceived as a pilot project, laying the foundation for future community-led initiatives. For its first edition, the festival focuses on the region’s most prominent communities, as identified through an extensive assessment. It seeks to bridge connections between long-established local communities and residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds, creating and celebrating inclusive spaces of interaction and cultural exchange.
To support this aim, Festival Integrarti has partnered with Cultural Translators No Barriers, who are facilitating multilingual access to the festival’s activities in:
- Tagalog
- हिंदी (Hindi)
- 中文 (Mandarin Chinese)
- Levantine Arabic
- Српски (Serbian)
- Български (Bulgarian)
- Soomaali (Somali)
- Binisaya (Cebuano)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)
- മലയാളം (Malayalam)
Beginnings
The festival was conceived in response to findings from a Social Impact Assessment (2023–2024) conducted in the Port Region. These findings were further expanded through follow-up research between September 2024 and February 2025, led by Tina Camilleri and Diellza Ilgner.
Their research, conducted in collaboration with AISO Academy, AWAS, No Barriers, FSWS, and ACTS Malta, highlighted key challenges faced by ethnic minorities, including:
- Limited visibility
- Reduced sense of belonging
- Barriers to cultural participation (demanding work schedules, insufficient outreach, geographic inaccessibility)
Based on this research, several thematic focus areas were identified, shaping the foundation for the festival’s first edition. The artistic direction of the festival has been placed in the hands of Artistic Directors Francesca Zammit and Joseph Galea.
Together, and through collaborations with the festival’s partners, the team now presents a programme that brings together six multidisciplinary artistic projects spanning dance, theatre, literature, food, jamming, and singing.
Integrarti Festival – Event Program
July 2025
Kickstarting the 2025 program, residents and pedestrians at the Isla waterfront were witness to an artistic dance performance on the steps of the Isla monument. The flashmob performance, led by Francesca Zammit in collaboration with Dance Beyond Borders, explored the realities of legal Statelessness through dance and poetic intervention.
Using poetry, paper planes and a tight rope dance as literal, visual and symbolic metaphors, the artistic directors interwove their personal experiences with stateless groups in Malta together with the individual experiences of the flashmob’s dancers to capture the suspended realities stateless individuals face worldwide. A huge thank you to to the flashmob’s participants, to Kunsill Lokali l-Isla for providing a rehearsal space, as well as to Kunsill Regjonali Port for supporting the initiative. A huge thank you also goes to Djun and Ruben Zahra whose music was used for this initiative.
- July 31 (Wed) – Statelessness Flashmob
Videography credit: Chelsea Muscat
Choreography Credit: Dance Beyond Borders and Francesca Zammit.
August 2025
In August, we officially launched our collaboration with Inizjamed during a reading at Café Riche, Birgu. The initiative aimed to bridge imagination, language, and the celebration of humanities through collaboration with schools and elderly care homes. A huge thank you to the Inizjamed team for keeping the Maltese language alive, fun, dynamic, and inclusive!
- August 23 (Fri) – Inizjamed Collaboration and Launch
September 2025
Musical Playgrounds
Through workshops organised in collaboration with the Kalkara, Żabbar and Paola Local Councils, ASIO Academy, Infinity India Association, the composer Albert Garzia, guitarists Bradley Farrugia, Sean Vukovic and Jeffrey Bajada, and the Port Regional Council, public sites were transformed into open air venues for musical exploration and experimentation. These musical evenings featured an interactive improvisation workshop with keyboards tuned to the sound of different musical instruments, enriched by guest performances and food provided by Infinity India Malta and the Olives Malta.
September 18 (Wed) – Musical Playgrounds – Kalkara
- September 25 (Wed) – Musical Playgrounds – Ħaż-Żabbar
- September 26–27 (Thu–Fri) – Cospicua Short Play Festival
Over two nights at the Cospicua Short Play Festival, Integrarti’s community performance piece Belonging came to life on stage — and what a journey it was! A heartfelt thank you goes to our dedicated performers, whose passion and talent carried the play to success, even as the weather kept us guessing. Despite not forming part of the evening’s competition, Belonging left its mark with audiences and jury members alike, proving a strong, original, and thoughtful addition to the night’s programme. A special thanks to the director, Sean Briffa, for his guidance which shaped this production from start to finish. Another thank you goes to the Fgura and Bormla Local Councils for providing the rehearsal spaces for this production.
Belonging, a short play by Integrarti Festival, directed by Sean Briffa
October 2025
Birgu by Candlelight x Integrarti
On Saturday, 11th October, from 8 PM – 11 PM, the historic streets of Birgu came alive with music and light. As special guests of this beautiful night organised by the Birgu Local Council, Festival Integrarti is proud to present our collaboration with Serbian Choir KUD “Dukat” and Olives Malta. The artists were stationed in Triq Il-Kunvent street where they performed their unique program just for this night!
- October 11 (Fri) – The Olives Malta and Serbian Choir Dukat
Inizjamed x Integrarti – Elderly Sessions
Together with the Inizjamed team — Kit Azzopardi, Priscilla Cassar, Claudia Gauci, Justine Somerville, and Leanne Ellul — the Port Regional Council extended the Festival to our locality’s schools and elderly care homes. With St Margaret Primary A in Zabbar and Dar San Gużepp Fgura, the authors conducted oral history and creative writing workshops for a short and highly original Integrarti Festival publication – a multilingual intergenerational sheet — which also doubles as a fun game.
(Fgura Dar San Gużepp)
- October 6 – October 31st
Inizjamed x Integrarti – School Sessions
- October 14th till October 21st – St. Margaret College, Santa Klara Primary School A (Partners: Inizjamed)
Documents
Cooking Workshops
A series of informational cooking workshops led by community members at the Valletta Design Cluster.
Partners: Infinity India Association, Pinoy Food Malta, Migrant Women Association Malta, Valletta Local Council, Valletta Design Cluster
- October 7 (Tue) – 18:30–21:30 – Gulab Jamun (vegetarian) – led by Infinity India Malta
- October 14 (Tue) – 18:30–21:30 – Pork or Chicken Adobo & Rice – Filipino cuisine led by Pinoy Food Malta
- October 21 (Tue) – 18:30–21:30 – Fetira (vegetarian) – Syrian cuisine led by the Migrant Women Association Malta as part of the SAHHA project
November 2025
- November 28 (Fri) – Festival Closing Date
Testimonials
Choir KUD “Dukat” had the honour of participating in the Integrarti Festival program as special guests during the beautiful Birgu Candlelight event. On Saturday, 11th October 2025, the historic streets of Birgu were transformed into a magical setting filled with music and warm candlelight. Organised by the Birgu Local Council, this special evening brought together culture, art, and community in a truly unforgettable atmosphere. Our choir was stationed in Triq Il-Kunvent, where we proudly presented a unique program of Serbian traditional songs specially prepared for this occasion. Performing among the illuminated streets and historic buildings created a remarkable connection between our music and the audience. The experience was both inspiring and emotional, as we shared our cultural heritage with an international community. Participating in the Integrarti Festival allowed us to celebrate friendship, artistic collaboration, and the universal language of music in a truly extraordinary setting.
As the Olives Band team, we are extremely proud to have participated in last year’s Integrarti Festival. For our singers and dancers, this experience was truly unforgettable and deeply meaningful. The participation and encouragement of the crowd was simply unexplainable; the constant support, applause, and positive energy from the audience motivated our performers and made them feel valued and celebrated. One moment we will always remember with great pride is our performance of the song Viva Malta, which created a powerful sense of unity and emotion among everyone present. The festival provided a professional, inclusive, and inspiring platform that contributed greatly to the confidence, growth, and joy of our team. We would like to sincerely thank the Birgu Local Council and the Integrarti Festival coordinators for their dedication, guidance, and continuous support. We proudly look forward to future collaborations and to being part of this wonderful initiative again.
Partners
Artistic Directors
Francesca Zammit
Joseph Galea
Institutions and Organisations
- Port Regional Council & its 11 Localities
- No Barriers Malta
- ACTS
- FSWS Malta
- Dance Beyond Borders
- Inizjamed
- AISO Academy
- Infinity India Malta Association
- Migrant Women Malta Association
- Pinoy Food
- The Olives Malta
- Dukat Serbian Choir
- Cospicua Short Play Festival
Artists & Practitioners
- Sean Briffa
- Albert Garzia
- Tina Camilleri
- Diellza Ilgner
- Jeffrey Bajada
- Bradley Farrugia
- Sean Vukovic
- The Olives Malta
- KUD Dukat Serbian Choir
Community & Educational Partners
- Dar San Guzepp Fgura
- St. Margaret College
- Santa Klara Primary School A
- Hal Far Outreach Centre
Media & Documentation
- Photography: Elisa Von Brockdorff, Mark Testa
- Videography: Chelsea Muscat, Karl Andrew Vella
Accessibility
The festival has been designed with accessibility in mind in terms of location selection, times of day, and availability. Through collaboration with No Barriers, multilingual access is available in: Filipino, Hindi, Mandarin, Arabic, Serbian, Bulgarian, Somali, Tamil, Punjabi, Malayalam, and Cebuano.
Sponsors
- Port Regional Council
- Arts Council Malta
Links
- Integrarti Facebook Page
- Tfal u anzjani se joħolqu stejjer ġodda flimkien ma’ Inizjamed – TVMnews.mt
- Ċelebrazzjoni tal-kollaborazzjoni bejn Inizjamed u r-Reġjun Port fi ħdan il-Festival Integrarti
- Celebrating the collaboration between Inizjamed and the Port Region within Integrarti Festival
- Facebook – ONE News
- josannecassar.com
