Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of
Attard
Attard () is a town in the Northern Region of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija, it forms part of the " Three Villages" () and has been inhabited since the Classical Period. It has a population of 12,268 as of 2021. Attard's traditional ...
and
Mosta in central and northern
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
respectively, which contains
the national football stadium, the
Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a crafts village, and a national vegetable market which is locally known as the ''Pitkalija''.
Shortly before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the area was used to build a military aerodrome and a station for the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF), which the British called
RAF Ta Kali; Maltese place names were often corrupted in this fashion. RAF Ta Kali was operational throughout the war and continued to be used as an RAF airfield until the mid-1950s. Later, RAF squadrons based in the United Kingdom visited Ta Kali as part of their annual proficiency training.

Since the departure of the RAF and the closure of the air base, the location has been transformed into a recreational area. The area is small in scale but considered by some in Malta as an ideal place to go for a picnic and spend weekend afternoons. The
National Park
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
also includes an amphitheatre. A number of international concerts have been staged at the park.
The
US Embassy stands across from the Ta'Qali National Park. In July, 2011 the embassy relocated to Ta'Qali from
Floriana
Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...
where it stood for nearly fifty years.
US Embassy in Malta: Announcement
Ta' Qali still fulfils part of its former role as an airfield but the only aircraft that take off from the greatly diminished landing strip are scale models, whose owners make part of a club located in Ta' Qali. Today, many of the military huts and buildings have been converted into workshops where Maltese craftsmen produce their handiwork, and the Ta' Qali Crafts Village has become an important tourist attraction. There is also the Malta Aviation Museum
Malta Aviation Museum is an aircraft museum situated on the site of the former Royal Air Force airfield in the village of Ta'Qali, on the island of Malta. The museum, based in three hangars, covers the history of aviation on the island with exh ...
, which has different aircraft related to Maltese aviation history. Before being converted into a recreational park the airstrip was used in the first car races ever held by the Maltese; nowadays the Sport Muturi has its off-road tracks where the annual motorsport championship is held.
'' 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi'' is a 2016 American biographical war movie filmed in Malta and Morocco, for which a large film set was built during 2015 in Ta' Qali. The film follows the 2012 Benghazi attack, in which Islamic militants attacked a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya.
Concerts
References
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Airports in Malta
Tourist attractions in Malta
Attard