For most of the year, this pier is relatively unremarkable. Fishermen dot its length, boats bob quietly in St George's Bay behind it, and it does exactly what a breakwater should do.
Once every year, on the first Sunday of August - the pier comes to life. In a tradition that started in 1974, the statue of St Peter, patron saint of Birzebbugia and of fishermen, is carried down to the water and taken out to sea, accompanied by a flotilla of around a hundred private boats, including the band club's very own boat, the procession moves across the bay. It's one of the few feasts in Malta that takes to the water rather than the streets. All to celebrate St Peter who was a fisherman, and Birżebbuġa is a harbor town.
Once the boat returns to shore, the statue is carried through the streets before being brought back to Pretty Bay, where it remains until the feast concludes on Sunday evening. For a few hours, this ordinary pier becomes the centrepiece of the whole town.
