Are you looking for a last minute break with a difference? Are you bored with beach driven holidays? Would you like the chance to experience a traditional Catholic country festival? Then the Mediterranean island of Malta is the place for you.

On the 28th and 29th of June, the island of Malta comes aglow with bonfires and fireworks to celebrate St Peter and St Paul. The island offers a unique mix of Moorish architecture, grand Catholic churches, jaw dropping paintings by renaissance master Caravaggio and British traditions all spiced up with usual Mediterranean flair. Nothing encapsulates this eclectic mix of heritages as the Festa of St Peter and St Paul. St Paul is honoured as a major player in Maltese religious history as he is attributed to have brought Christianity to the island.

Fireworks punctuate the Maltese summer sky and every town and village dresses up for the fiesta, when prayers precede a lively procession of the saints' statues through the lavishly decorated streets to the sound of brass bands.

The two day festival takes place mainly in Buskett Gardens just outside Rabat, a park which was originally used by the Knights for falconry and which is now the preferred spot for the Maltese to have a quiet picnic in the shade away from the scorching summer sun. On the eve of the festival, marquees are set up in the Gardens for produce and livestock shows, the animals are blessed and crowds from all over the island meet to socialize and feast. Amongst bonfire, folk music and brass bands, the Maltese national dish fenkata (rabbit stew) is consumed in large quantities and washed down with local wine.

On the second day, after nightlong partying, the revellers move to Saqqajja Hill for horse and donkey races. The prizes are ornate banners called palji, which are carried proudly back to the winners' villages to hang gloriously in the local church until the following year.

For a cultural holiday with a difference, the Inmaria feast in Malta is a once in a lifetime experience. Flythomascook operates regular flights to Malta from several UK airports. Don't forget to pack your camera!