Updated - Group bids €11,500 to carry Mgarr statue

Updated - Adds new video with comments An Mgarr group bid €11,500 today for the honour of carrying the statue of Sta Marija during the feast which will be celebrated this evening. The group will be led by restaurant owner Wistin Vella, who said this was a family tradition going back since the first auction in 1923. The statue was bought by the parish the previous year and the parishioners had been asked to make donations to meet the costs. "Every town and village has its tradition, this is our's," he said.  This year's winning bid was more than twice that of last year's. The winning bid in 2011 ago was €10,500. Wistin Vella had also won the auction last year and in 2011.  Kevin Vella won in 2010 with a bid of €8,000. The statue will be carried by eight people, including members of Wistin Vella's family and friends. There were four bidders today. The 'auction' was held before a crowd of some 300 people outside the church after the recitation of the Angelus. The amount raised was the highest since the adoption of the euro in 2008, but higher amounts were raised in the 1990s. Despite the auction, people wishing to carry the statue are given the opportunity during part of the...