The newly erected Malta Fairs & Convention Centre (MFCC) means the Mediterranean island is now able to offer a venue capable of holding large exhibition, conference and concert facilities.

The MFCC opened its doors this December with a conference for 2,500 delegates from Thomas Cook, which incorporated an exhibition and gala party night. The general public had its first glimpse of the venue at a national bank holiday open day for the public featuring a World Championship motor cycle stunt display and artists’ installations. Three days later an opening concert by tenor Andreas Bocelli was enjoyed by a capacity 8,000 audience.

 

MFCC gives Malta a venue large enough for
exhibitions and large conferences

At the opening ceremony Malta’s minister of tourism and culture, Hon Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, commended all the partners, and congratulated them in overcoming many hurdles to create a venue that the island can be proud of. “This is an incredible venue with the versatility to host any event,” he said. “It will radically improve the events culture of Malta and bring considerable economic benefit to our beautiful island. We can now offer a world class venue for exhibitions, conferences and concerts.”

The structure was delivered by Arena Structures and was previously used as the temporary Wembley Arena Pavilion venue during the refurbishment of Wembley Arena, London, where it was first seen by Ruben Caruana, managing director of the Maltese events company Sign-It.

Arena’s account director, Simon Marsh spent 18 months helping to plan the venue, sited next door to Malta’s national stadium near Valetta. Surveys and preparation were completed in collaboration with MFCC, who installed drainage, foundations and tarmac on the previously barren ground prior to starting the build on October 30th.

Sister company Arena Seating supplied 2,500 tiered grandstands seats to augment the 5,000 flat seats already present on the Island.

Arena Structures’ managing director, Grahame Muir, commented: “It has been great to see this project come to fruition and I am sure the MFCC will be a huge success, bearing in mind the enthusiasm of the people and the climate and beauty that Malta offers event organisers. It has also highlighted that our TFS is a very cost-effective solution to create a flexible yet permanent venue and we have received significant interest from other Southern Mediterranean and North African countries.”

www.mfcc.com.mt