An overwhelming crowd of the Maltese diaspora and locals from the San Francisco area has turned up to see the performance ‘Star of Strait Street’, organised by the Embassy of Malta in collaboration with Malta’s Honorary Consul on 23 March at the Millbrae High School auditorium . On this occasion, Ambassador Keith Azzopardi and Malta’s Honorary Consul for San Francisco Louis Vella also took the opportunity to honour the Maltese veterans of the Vietnam War by decorating them with a medal donated by the US veterans’ organization. This was the first ever event to be held in the West coast of the United States of America, thanks to the Culture Diplomacy Fund.

Polly March and Larissa Bonaci starred with Geoff Thomas in the musical play ‘Star of Strait Street’ written by Philip Glassborow,  which retells a true-life love story from World War 2.

While in San Francisco, Ambassador Azzopardi also took the opportunity to visit for the first time, and meet the Maltese diaspora at the Maltese Club. While addressing their annual meeting, Ambassador Azzopardi thanked the members present as well as Malta’s Honorary Consul Louis Vella for their engagement and commitment in keeping the Maltese alive the Maltese traditions and customs despite being so far away from Malta since such a long time.