Celebrating the new year like never before

The island looks set to party hard and welcome in the new year with a bang as organisers report healthy business for the events lined up. “This year, for sure, compared to last year people seem to want to party more. We are handling six different events and catering for about 5,000 people,” said Edward D’Alessandro, CEO of outside caterer Catermax. “This year, the trend... is people want to party” he added. He said it was so busy that they had to close off bookings “because we were chock-a-block with requests”. Party organiser Owen Spiteri, from G7 Events, said there had been an increase in attendance for their New Year’s Eve parties when compared with previous years. They were expecting about 40,000 people for their event, which would be a national affair, to be held in conjunction with the Floriana and Valletta local councils. Mr Spiteri said it would incorporate three stages, in the stretch between Castille, in Valletta, and the Granaries, in Floriana, and will be filmed by the national broadcaster. Further up north, in St Julian’s, the Westin Dragonara Hotel, which is hosting two gala dinners and two other events, said that the expected turnout was good. A director of Island...