Arena Market: Malta

With a population of around half a million people, Malta is one of Europe’s smallest countries (but, for context, it is still more populous than Iceland). Despite its relatively small size, it does have an arena.

The Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) opened in 2006 and has a full capacity of 10,000. It has multiple configurations depending on the use case – catering for conferences, fairs/exhibitions, theatre, and concerts.

Over the years, it has put on shows by acts including Calvin Harris, Afrojack, The Prodigy, Anastacia, Joseph Calleja, Andrea Bocelli, and The X Factor Malta.

Concerts are, however, infrequent, partly down to the country’s small population, as well as the fact that international artists rarely tour there.

“Seasonality is a thing of the past and having the annual and highly acclaimed Joseph Calleja concert organised in November will definitely serve as an impetus for tourists to visit Malta in the shoulder months.”

In recent years, the country – with the combined forces of VisitMalta, the Ministry for Tourism, and Bank of Valletta – have been pushing to host more entertainment events on the island, particularly at the MFCC.

Last year, tourism minister Clayton Bartolo told Times of Malta, “Seasonality is a thing of the past and having the annual and highly acclaimed Joseph Calleja concert organised in November will definitely serve as an impetus for tourists to visit Malta in the shoulder months.”

In 2020, the MFCC increased its inside space by 3,800sqm in order to accommodate the SiGMA iGaming Conference. “MFCC is [more] versatile than ever before,” ran a statement from the venue at the time. “We constantly reach out to clients to understand their needs and provide the necessary solutions.”

The venue itself was developed by Ruben Caruana of Sign It, the Maltese event production company, alongside Fairs & Exhibitions Ltd. “Malta really needed a venue like this,” said Caruana at its opening in 2007. “It’s absolutely unique and gives the country the scope to host international artists, trade fairs, and conventions of all types all the year round.”