A first-timer's guide
The Malta folklore night at Ta' Marija: what actually happens
Wine and a 4-course Maltese dinner from half seven, then six dancers in eighteenth-century costume turning history into movement once the plates are cleared — here's the shape of the night, in order.
See folklore night tickets on GetYourGuide ↗The evening in order
| Early evening | Through the night | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | Wine poured, antipasto and starter | Main course and dessert, then the folklore show |
| Time | Doors 7:30pm | Runs to 10:30pm |
| Music | Mandolins move through the room | Continues alongside the dancing |
| Getting there | Pickup from around 5:50pm | Drop-off on the option with transport |
| Flexibility | Free cancellation on GetYourGuide | Free cancellation on GetYourGuide |
It opens with a drink, not a menu card
Doors at Ta' Marija open at 7:30pm for the folklore night, and the evening starts the way most good Maltese nights out do — local wine and water poured as the room fills and finds its tables. There's no rush to the first course; the restaurant lets the evening settle before the kitchen starts sending plates out, which matters when the whole night runs a fixed three-hour arc rather than an open-ended dinner.
The menu leans into the island's own kitchen
What follows is a set 4-course menu from Ta' Marija's Maltese kitchen — the restaurant has spent sixty years building its name on home-style cooking rather than a generic hotel-banquet spread. An antipasto of Maltese sausage and goat's cheese comes first, then a choice of starter and a choice of main, including the restaurant's signature stuffed rabbit, before a layered Maltese dessert. Free-flowing local wine, mineral water and coffee come with the meal.
The musicians arrive before the dancers
Strolling musicians on mandolin and guitar work through the tables as the first course lands, which is worth knowing if you were picturing a fixed stage act — the sound moves through the room rather than sitting in one corner of it. It's a softer opening than the dance performance that follows, and it sets the tone for an evening built around a shared room rather than a passive audience.
Six dancers, telling Malta's history in costume
The folklore performance itself is six dancers in eighteenth-century dress, working through what Ta' Marija describes as a jovial telling of Maltese history through dance — staged after dinner, with the dancefloor raised so you can watch from your table. The company has been doing this since the restaurant opened in 1990, and once the show ends the floor lights up for guests to dance.
How the night closes
With the transfer included on this page's featured option, you're collected afterward — worth having, given the evening runs well past dark in a town most visitors wouldn't otherwise navigate to at night.