Christmas concerts and church music in Malta, 2026

By the ULTIMATE Malta Editorial Team

Christmas in Mdina Cathedral

The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Paul, the baroque cathedral at the heart of the walled city, is the setting for the Malta Youth Orchestra’s Christmas Concert on Friday 11 December 2026 at 7.30pm. Michael Laus conducts, with the choir Coro Kemonia.

The programme runs from Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze, in William Walton’s arrangement, and Mozart’s Missa in honorem Trinitatis to William Gomez’s Ave Maria, Karl Jenkins’s Benedictus, Emanuele Galea’s Sinfonija Pastorali and a set of traditional Sicilian carols. Tickets are booked through the orchestra’s website.

Our advice: come early and walk the silent streets of Mdina before the concert; the city is at its most beautiful on a December evening.

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra: MYO Christmas Concert →

Joseph Calleja’s Christmas concert

Malta’s great tenor gives his annual Christmas concert on Friday 18 December 2026 at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta’ Qali, with the Italian singer-songwriter Claudio Baglioni and the soprano Sarah Brightman. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra plays under the musical direction of Paul Bateman, and the BOV Joseph Calleja Children’s Choir sings under Gillian Zammit.

Doors open at 7pm and the concert begins at 8.30pm. It is a seated event, there is no late entry, and tickets start at €60, from the promoter, Eventworks.

Our advice: Ta’ Qali is in the centre of the island, below Mdina; book a taxi home in advance, as the whole hall leaves at once.

Eventworks: Joseph Calleja Christmas Concert 2026 →

More Christmas music: Corinthia Palace and the Manoel Theatre

Corinthia Palace in Attard holds its Christmas Extravaganza, a festive musical evening of Christmas favourites, on Sunday 20 December, part of the hotel’s Palace Concert Series; it had sold out when we checked. On Christmas Eve, Villa Corinthia serves an early Christmas breakfast after midnight Mass.

For children, the Manoel Theatre’s Studio Theatre on Old Mint Street hosts Yuletide Bop!, a Christmas singalong dance party with a visit from Saint Nicholas, on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December at 3pm, for ages 4 and up. MADC’s pantomime Peter Pan opens on the main stage on 22 December.

At Iniala Valletta, the festive programme includes the lighting of the Grand Christmas Tree and candlelit carols; dates had not been published when we checked.

Corinthia Palace: Palace Concerts →   Manoel Theatre: Yuletide Bop! →   Iniala Valletta: festive season →

Valletta’s churches at Christmas

St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral on Independence Square, the Anglican church whose spire stands beside the Carmelite dome on Valletta’s skyline, holds Sung Mass in English every Sunday at 11am, and a said Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11am. Its Advent and Christmas services for 2026 had not been published when we checked.

St John’s Co-Cathedral, the conventual church of the Knights, had not published its 2026 Christmas programme when we checked. Across the islands, the parish churches celebrate Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve, many beside cribs of their own.

Our advice: check each church’s own page in December, and see our guide to Christmas in Malta for the cribs, the lights and the opening times.

St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral: services →   Christmas in Malta →

How to get a seat

Malta’s Christmas concerts are small, popular and often sold out by December: book the Mdina and Calleja concerts as soon as you can. For Mass, churches are free to enter but fill quickly on Christmas Eve; arrive at least half an hour early, dress modestly and bring a layer, as the old churches are cool in winter.

Our advice: Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the concerts cluster on the weekends of 12–13 and 19–20 December. Check each organiser’s page in the week before you go, as times can change.

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