The spectacular village festas

Experiencing a traditional festa is something that nobody can miss when visiting the Maltese Islands.

Summer is here and July with its 21 festas offers a great way to experience the authentic local traditions. Amazingly lighted churches, beautifully decorated village cores, fireworks, processions, bands, street stalls and parties. The more spectacular the better. The fact that every village has a festa shows the importance of these religious feasts. The over 80 festas held during the year bring the village people together to celebrate the patron saints of the village. These traditions were passed from generations to generations and are still alive to bring joy and happiness to everyone who participates on the village festas. 

Our exclusive, tailor-made private tours provide excellent possibilities for visiting the festas. For more details do not hesitate to contact us. 

E: info@merillecotours.com

F: +356 21411388
M: +356 79000143

W: http://www.merillecotours.com

Happy festas!:)

Explore the richness of Malta's nature and culture with Us

„Conservation through leisure”

Our motto reflects the mission of Merill very well. We strive to link nature and culture in a unique and exceptional way. Promoting Malta’s Mediterranean traditions as well as reviving the agriculture of Malta and its sister island Gozo, is the core part of our mission. Our activities involve conservation, preservation and education. The clients will experience the very best of nature, history and culture all in an eco-friendly and sustainable way. We pay lots of attention for reducing the carbon footprint and the harmful effects of tourism on the environment. Providing benefits for the local community is also an important concept in our work. Under the brand name Merill Local Products we promote the local, authentic products bought directly from the farmers and craft persons. Each person who participates on our tours or takes part in one of the activities organized by us contributes to the preservation of old agricultural traditions and gains a life time experience. The wide range of experiences we offer makes it possible for us to target groups or individuals with different interests.

Let’s see a bunch of the activities one can enjoy with us!

Are you interested in birdwatching? Join us for a trip to Buskett which is the most important woodland in Malta or visit the Salina area. Spring is the best time to visit when a variety of herons and egrets can be spotted resting in the salt pans, the ditch or on the trees in the park itself, with the most common being Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Night Heron and Little Egret. 

In case if you wish to enjoy the calmness of the beautiful landscape and seascape, our Gozo, Dingli and Mellieha Eco Tours were made for you. The tours were designed to introduce the authentic agricultural lands and to represent the Maltese village life. We carefully choose the itinerary of the trips in order to preserve the natural beauties and habitats.

Should you be interested in the traditional way of land cultivation you may wish to organize an event taking place on a vineyard, olive grove or engage yourself in a strawberry picking session. These activities are perfect for team-building or just for a fun day out.

In order to keep the old traditions alive, such as weaving and sea salt harvesting workshops are organized regularly. All these options provide you an informative, interactive and interesting way of spending time with your family, friends and colleagues. 

For further information please visit our fan page


Betti :) 

For more information about the whole range of experiences we offer, please visit the Merill Eco Tours website. We organise experiences upon request for small and medium sized groups. Feel free to email us on info@merillecotours.com or call us on 21/27411388.

A group of students visit the Bingemma Olive Grove

View from the Olive Grove

We were pleased to host a group of students from the university association called "Youth for the Environment". Daniel Buhagiar is the current President of the organisation. The students all have the environment at heart and study at various faculties and institutes within the University of Malta including sciences, engineering and health. The scope of the association is to create environmental awareness, promote efficiency and contribute to sustainability in society. This rural experience was organised as one of their social events.

During the discussion

It was a splendid Sunday morning when John, a young farmer, and I met the group next to the Chapel of Our Lady of Ittria in Bingemma, Mgarr. After a brief introduction, we moved towards the Olive Grove where we were hosted by Nena, Tessie, Bella together with John. The youths were offered tea and coffee together with local jams and marmalades. Following that, the visit was complemented with an engaging discussion about rural tourism and agriculture. John, recalled how studying agriculture has kept him close to his family and the traditions they harness. Olive oil and other delicacies produced by the farmers within the Merill Network were also tasted during the experience. 

Olive oil tasting

Delicacy Tasting

At the olive grove

Photos by Kurt Cuschieri

To get involved in this student organisation visit their Facebook Fan Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/youthfortheenvironment

For more information about the Olive Grove Experience, drop us a line on info@merillecotours.com.

Cheers

Jeanette

Family Tours in Malta

While the temperatures keep rising, more and more tourists come over to the Malta for a well deserved break. The clear blue sky and sea are ideal to drain down the stress accumulated during winter.

For all those families coming over to Malta for a break, we are offering half and full day tours tailor made to feature the very best of Malta. Some families would have already visited Valletta and Mdina, as the main historical sites in Malta. We have a lot more to show you! ....villages, way side chapels, view points, places rich in nature, archaeology, traditions and culture. We are aware that some places are difficult to get to, by using public transport. While recommending the hiring of a car or a chauffeur driven service, we can organise an experience and have you escorted by one of our expert guides.

Send us an email for more info on info@merillecotours.com or call us on 00356 7941 1388.

P.S...we also organise these experiences for locals...have a look at this clip to get a feel of what we do.

Beat the heat this summer...stay fresh with us at Merill Eco Tours!

Traditionally baked foods 

Ausflug für Familien
Escursione per famiglie
Excursie voor gezinnen
Экскурсия для семей
εκδρομή για οικογένειες

Reviving Traditions - Weaving in Malta

Weaving machine

I chose my favourite colour in stock!

lovely shades of thread

The artisan weaving

A unique work of art!

Learning about hand made parts of the weaving machine

Cotton bags 

The origin and development of woven cloth is closely tied to the history of mankind. People learned to weave thousands of years ago using natural grasses, leafstalks, palm leaves, and thin strips of wood.

Weaving is the process of making cloth, rugs, blankets, and other products by crossing two sets of threads over and under each other. Weavers use threads spun from natural fibres like cotton, silk, and wool. But thin, narrow strips of almost any flexible material can be woven.

It is firmly believed that the Phoenicians introduced weaving and dyeing skills in Malta and Gozo. Since classical times, the Maltese Islands have been renowned for the excellence of the local cloth. Roman senator Cicero in his report refers to quantities of Maltese cloth that had been stolen. He also states that Malta had "become a manufactory for weaving women's garments".

The cotton industry thrived up to the early 19th century before declining slowly by the end of the century. Because of the cotton plant, introduced to Malta by the Arabs, nearly every house had its loom, while girls were taught this trade at a very early age. Up to World War I, the Islands produced coarse and finer weaved cotton on traditional handlooms. Today, fabrics are produced by both hand spinning and mechanised means.

The woollen industry remained small, but Malta and Gozo today still produce small quantities of useful heavy knitted garments and rugs. A wide range of woollen and fabric garments and accessories including skirts, handbags, ties and wall tapestries are available. 

We realise that many locals have lost most of the knowledge about this ancient tradition and many don't know it still exists because of lack of awareness and education in this field. On the other hand tourist who come to Malta are offered an array of souvenirs, many of which are not 100% authentic.  To address these issues, Merill Eco Tours are organising tours and demonstrations to revive traditions and offer authentic hand made products to those who wish to own a unique work of art and support local artisans.


Feel free to visit our website: www.merillecotours.com
Photos taken by Christian Borg

Reference: http://www.gozo.gov.mt/pages.aspx?page=786