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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 JULY 2017 News 17 The Crystal Palace – Celebrating Russian-Maltese ties AS part of the framework of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Russian- Maltese diplomatic relation- ships, a pre-premiere show of the staged ballet, play and musical "The Crystal Palace" is being produced this Friday at the Mediterranean Con- ference Centre in Valletta. The music of the famous contemporary composer Alexey Shor has been spe- cially selected for this per- formance. Shor, like no other, connects Russia and Malta through his musical pieces, being born in the for- mer Soviet Union and now a composer-in-residence with the Malta Philharmonic Or- chestra Academy. Based on historical ar- chives, Russian theatre pro- fessionals will recreate the atmosphere of the 18th cen- tury using original Baroque decorations and costumes for the Valletta pre-premier. "The Crystal Palace" is set in 1740, at the court of the Russian Empress Anna Ioan- novna. In the capital, luxurious celebrations have been or- ganised and during one of them the empress learns about two sweethearts and orders them to marry. But the hearts of the lovers are not filled with joy, because the bride and the groom are ordered by the Empress to spend the winter night after their nuptials in a specially- erected palace, where the walls, bed and even the f low- ers, were made of ice. Celebrities and special guests from Russia and Mal- ta taking part in the produc- tion include soloists of the Bolshoi and Mikhailovsky Theaters, ballet dancers of leading Moscow theatres, as well as the Malta Philhar- monic Orchestra, the Malta Children's Choir and stu- dents of the Maltese Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet. Empress Anna Ioannovna orders two sweethearts to get married The Farsons Beer Festival is back for its 37th edition M ALTA'S hottest summer celebration is back with its 37th edition. Running over 10 days, from Friday 28 July to Sunday 6 August, the Farsons Beer Festival brings together the best beer, food, music and entertainment at Ta' Qali National Park. As one of Malta's most awaited summer annual events, drawing thousands of fes- tival goers every night, the festival will once again feature over 70 local artists and performances, no less than 50 local and international award-winning beers and a revamped food court offering a di- verse choice of foods. The vast choice of local and interna- tional award-winning beers is the main highlight of the festival with the wide range on offer including local brands Cisk and Farsons Classic Brews, interna- tional brands Carlsberg, Budweiser, Co- rona and Guinness, as well as speciality and craft international beers such as St Austell, Leffe, and Baladin. International ciders Bulmer's and Strongbow complete the selection. Adolf Vella, Business Support Man- ager at Simonds Farsons Cisk plc said, "With over 70 performances spread across three stages, this year's festival is that little bit more special. The bands in this year's line-up are all local and we have also gone to great lengths to cover as many angles of the local music scene as possible. From pop, rock and indie to ska, punk, metal and reggae, with even a dash of jazz and lots of acoustic acts, this year's line-up has something for every- one. Ten days of great music, live and di- rect from the top acts of the local scene, all coming together at this year's Farsons Beer Festival." "Since the very first edition of the fes- tival held back in 1981, we have consist- ently strived to improve the event to of- fer our thousands of visitors an authentic and enjoyable festival experience," Susan Weenink Camilleri, Head of Marketing and Communications at Simonds Far- sons Cisk plc., said. "The daily record attendance, year on year, is testament to the success and timeless appeal of the Farsons Beer Festival. Entry to the festival is free of charge. This is our way of giving back something to our loyal clients and con- sumers who support our brands through their custom throughout the year." The food court, newly revamped this year, includes a choice of popular restau- rants such as The Pulled Meat Company, Gate of India, New York Best, Bad Ass Burgers, Mad Hatter from TexMex and many more. Also new this year are special arrange- ments made with Malta Public Trans- port for direct and late night routes to ensure widespread accessibility to and from the festival. Doors open at 8pm every night. En- trance to the festival is free and no tick- ets are required for entry. For more in- formation, news and updates please visit w w w.farsonsbeerfestival.com . The Farsons Beer Festival is sponsored by Vodafone and supported by XFM 100.2 and Wall's Ice Cream. The festival will feature over 70 local artists and performances GSD Marketing Ltd supports archaeological excavations at the Zejtun Roman Villa WITHIN the grounds of the Middle and Secondary School (St Thomas More College) in Zejtun lie the re- mains of a Roman villa. This year the archaeologists are concentrating their efforts in two areas: an area where the decantation vats stood and a large wall that marks the limits of the villa com- plex. A sponsorship from GSD Mar- keting Ltd is ensuring that a steady supply of mineral water keeps the team going in the summer heat. "We are proud to support the De- partment of Archeology in this en- deavor. Cultural heritage can provide an automatic sense of unity and be- longing within a group and allows us to better understand previous genera- tions and the history of our ancestors. Therefore it is our honour to help in making this possible'' said Maria Mi- callef, COO of General Soft Drinks Ltd. The site was discovered in the 1960s when work was underway to build the school. A systematic excavation cam- paign was carried out between 1972 and 1976. A Roman villa was essentially a large farming estate that combined an area intended for residence and a working area. The set-up at Zejtun catered for the extraction of oil from olives. The machinery, consisting of stone blocks and a number of decantation vats for oil, were discovered in the 1970s together with a series of rooms, carefully paved with terracotta loz- enge-shaped tiles. Some of the walls were found to contain traces of the original plaster, decorated with simple line paintings in red, yellow and green. The site was abandoned until 2006 when a team from the Department of Classics and Archaeology of the Uni- versity of Malta was invited to re-in- vestigate the area. Four-week excava- tion campaigns have taken place every year since. For a month, students read- ing for a degree in Archaeology, work side-by-side with professional archae- ologists to unravel the history of the villa complex. Pieces of pottery, shell, worked stone fragments and coins are all parts of the puzzle. Students are trained to dig systematically and to document their discoveries. A startling discovery was made a few years ago when it was revealed that the villa complex was built over an aban- doned vineyard sometime after the first century BC. Traces of the long rock-cut trenches where vines were planted have been found. It is possible that the vineyard was laid out and used before the Roman occupation of the islands. The site was certainly occupied during Punic times when a large cistern was built to store rainwater. The team will be opening the site to visitors this Friday and site tours will be given every half hour between 9 and 12. To reach the site visitors should turn left on Triq Dun Lawrenz Degabri- ele from the Zejtun bypass, skirt the school and turn left again on Triq Luqa Briffa. Further information about the activities of the Department of Clas- sics and Archaeology can be found on the website: http://www.um.edu.mt/ arts/classics-archaeo. Students work side-by-side with professional archaeologists to unravel the history of the villa complex