History of Hamrun

along the main street under colourful lights and banners. The streets are lined with statues of saints and angels. The procession leaves the church early in the evening and winds its way around the city. The fiesta ends with a spectacular run up the stairs of the Parish Church. Volunteers carrying the statue of the Patron Saint take a "girja" (run) up the stairs under the watchful eyes of parishioners, visitors and tourists. This traditional ending of the boisterous local feast dates back to 1898. The run is usually accompanied by an equally spectacular and noisy fire works display and loud cheers and clapping from the crowds.

Besides the feast of St Cajetan, Hamrun celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception both on the first Sunday of July and on the 8th of December with great fervour and delight. The titular statue of the Immaculate Conception is held with great esteem due to the admiration it drew from the great pontiff Leo XIII who on seeing its magnificence bestowed on it the honour of serving as a tangible means for grace through the distribution of an indulgence to whoever expresses devotion towards it.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception is quite different from that of St Cajetan. Rather than focusing on the external more energetic and lively side of the feast, it is a feast which is much more muted and the parish's only band club guarantees a total absence of rivalry