Paola is renowned for its Good Friday procession, its football club, Hibernians FC, for the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and for its large church.

A number of prominent Maltese personalities hail from Paola, including Dr. Vincent Moran, ex-Minister of Health; Dr. Jason Azzopardi currently Parliamentary Secretary for Revenues and Land within the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment, and Mr. Silvio Parnis, member of Parliament; leading Maltese author Immanuel Mifsud, Ino Bonello international movie art director (Munich) and former Mayor of the locality, Mons Francesco Xuereb, founder of Our Lady of Lourdes parish and benefactor of the main parish dedicated to Christ the King, [1], marketer Dr. Massimo Ellul, TV personality Ms. Simone Cini, young singer Klinsmann Coleiro and others. One of Malta's Prime Ministers, Sir Paul Boffa, (1890-1962) lived in Paola.