Though many thousands of musicians have played at the 36 previous folk festivals this was the first time that the festival has heard the unique strains of the Maltese Ghana. At any one time at the festival there could be 16 different concerts, dances and workshops to choose from, and amongst the wide variety of acoustic and traditional musics that were heard the ghana was something that the festival goers heeded. Its powerful mixture of song and guitar music was captivating to many, and soon people were returning to hear the concerts and workshops of the Maltese musicians, kittaristi Ray Attard, Franc and Tony Camellieri, and ghannej Joe Galea.

Some say that ghana is one of the world's best kept musical secrets, and if this is so, its not because it hasn't been regularly played, or because the musicians were unaware of its delights. Rather, those things that most endear it to its enthusiastic audience, the long slow development of musical and poetic themes, the subtle variation and the elaboration of meaning, are the very things that can make it impenetrable to a new audience. To spend an hour is the essence of ghana, but an hour is twice the length of the standard festival concert spot! The musical challenge for the group, one which they met brilliantly, was to present the basic nature of a ghana performance in less time than it normally takes to tune, and to make the music interesting to an audience who, for the most part, didn't speak Maltese.

Music, however, has a way of communicating that can cross the barriers of language, and the first time that the group played at the festival, the music was performed kitteri bis, guitars alone. The concert was called "The Guitar Roundtable" and featured the best of the festival's guitarists. Apart from Ray, Franc and Tony, these included American David La Motte's percussive and innovative playing, the astonishing Western Australian group, Desert Child's pyrotechnic guitar duets, and the undisputed master of the Celtic guitar, Tony MacManus. As each played, they revealed a little of their style, technique and tradition, and the audience were astonished by the playing of the prejjem, especially the minori which brought an enthusiastic roar from the crowd, as the perfectly locked playing of Franc and Tony built the foundation for Ray's masterful lead.

The next day's concert was scheduled in a venue that was perfect for the group to showcase the ghana. The covered stage, surrounded by chairs and appropriatly attached to a wine bar, opened onto a "piazza" midway between the concert and the dance venue, the food area and the beer tent. The passing crowd slowed as Joe Galea sang to the playing of the guitars, first a fatti in English, telling of the Maltese in Australia, then some more traditional Maltese songs, interspersed by some demonstrations of prejjem. By the end of the concert there was standing room only, and the crowd cried out for an encore.

So the following day, at the National Library of Australia concert, the crowd began to pour in, taking up all 600 seats in that venue before the set had finished. Joe's singing once again captured the attention of those present, and in spite of the heat of the banks of lights, Ray, Franc and Tony managed a performance that kept the music moving, the audience enraptured, and the guitars in tune. Complements poured in, and at the workshop the next day, the group had an hour and a half to talk, and to explain how the ghana worked and how it might be heard to an enthusiastic audience that up until that weekend hadn't even heard of ghana.

The presence of the ghana at the festival added a dimension to an extraordinary festival, and will doubtless be remembered as one of the highlights of what was undoubtably one of the best folk festivals held. May it be the first of many at which the ghana appears.

Kevin Bradley