What is ‘April Fools’ Day’ and why exactly do we celebrate it?

Apr 1 2023

April 1st is finally here and despite the seemingly declining number of large-scale practical jokes from local brands and creators, the prankster’s holiday, as it were, still makes you expect the unexpected all day… but why?

April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, is celebrated by many countries every single year and is generally known for granting a free pass to individuals to prank their loved ones into believing the most random things.

The custom is actually traced back to medieval France, when New Year’s Day used to be celebrated on March 25th due to the use of the Julian calendar, before the 1564 reform to the Gregorian calendar. New Year’s Day festivities would reach their pinnacle on April 1st. After the January 1st New Year’s was adopted, those who forgot to change their date and continued to celebrated New Year’s on April 1st were labelled ‘April Fools’.

All across Europe, pranksters celebrates in some crazy ways, with people in France, Belgium, Italy and French-speaking Switzerland being amongst the countries to ‘celebrate’ by sticking a paper fish onto the backs of others then yelling “Poisson d’Avril”, which translates to “April Fish!” In England, the typical custom is to bring celebrations to a halt at noon, with etiquette dictating that pranksters must come clean otherwise risking that they become the April fools.

Recently and even locally, large brands have taken April Fools’ Day as an opportunity to tease their patrons with outrageous concepts and products, only to (most of the time) let them down on April 1st.

What’s your favourite April Fools’ Day prank?

#MaltaDaily

2 hours to create an entire piece for Brillanti quarter finalists

Apr 1 2023

The Brillanti quarter finalists were handed a tough challenge this week – choreograph or create a piece in just under 2 hours to a song hand-picked by the judges’ panel!

The dancers were treated to all manner of music genres and styles, but they had to put their skills to the test and set their limitations aside (or utilise them?) in order to rise to the occasion.

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Here are just some highlights from the dancers who managed to impress the panel, consisting of Brenda, Andrea and Patrick, to warrant themselves a place in the semifinals!

Next week, the panel of renowned dance experts will continue to see who of their quarter finalists have what it takes to fill in the last remaining slots in the next phase of the competition.

And it’s all going to get tougher from here on out! Who was your favourite from last night?

#MaltaDaily

Peppi Azzopardi likens Jean Paul Sofia’s mother’s grief to Our Lady of Sorrows

Mar 31 2023

Holding up an image of the late Jean Paul Sofia and his mother, Isabella Bonniċi, Xarabank TV host Peppi Azzopardi wrote on social media that the Lady of Sorrows is still with us today.

Today, the 31st of March, many Maltese Catholics will be remembering Mary, Mother of Jesus, under her title as ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’ ahead of Good Friday and Easter celebrations.

The feast commemorates the sorrow felt by the mother of Jesus upon the loss of her son via crucifixion as is taught in Christian, in this case Catholic, doctrine and faith.

The TV host likened the sorrow felt by Mary to the pain currently being felt by Isabelle, the mother of Jean Paul, who sadly lost his life in a tragic incident in Corradino after a building collapsed and took his life.

The tragedy prompted many to protest not just for better infrastructural measures but also the publicising of the inquiry into the death following the announcement by the government that it will not be made public.

#MaltaDaily

Is Cisk actually teasing a beer fountain?

Mar 31 2023

Beloved Maltese beer brand took to social media to tease a literal beer fountain, posting an image of blueprints in the making.

Of course, April Fool’s Day is literally just around the corner, but even if this turns out to be the perfectly thought out joke, we couldn’t help but imagine what a beer fountain would look like?

‘Who needs a water fountain when you can have a free-flowing Cisk fountain’ the brand wrote.

From the design, the fountain would be something to behold, featuring the iconic horse crafted into a statue with beer sprouting from its head. All that’s left is to decide where to situate the fountain.

#MaltaDaily