Feasts, and especially the fireworks that come along with it, are a celebrated part of Maltese culture.

However, while in the past the support for such parts of Maltese culture was universal, the same cannot really be said nowadays. A new generation of Maltese who are less religiously-inclined, and a significantly-sized new demographic of residents - foreigners who have immigrated to Malta and now call it home - are less enthusiastic about fireworks in particular.

The response to this has always been, in a nutshell, that feasts and the fireworks that go along with are an intangible and important part of Malta's cultural traditions, and they will remain as they are.

However, incidents this summer have moved the needle somewhat.

First there was the dramatic explosion of the Ta' Lourdes fireworks factory in Magħtab on 1 June - an explosion so large that it did the rounds on global social media, sometimes even mistakenly labelled as the result of a missile attack on Iran.

The explosion left no fatalities, however it did cause significant damage not just to the agricultural holdings immediately surrounding the factory but also to homes up to two kilometres away.

Then the questions began - the biggest one being, who was responsible for the damages?  Over 90 farmers in the area suffered damages, with 200 parcels of land impacted. Farmers with land closest to the factory have fields which are still to this day littered with debris and therefore unable to be used.  This is not to mention the loss to their livelihood as some had livestock which were killed and they were also blocked from selling produce from their fields as a result of the explosion.

It then emerged that the fireworks factory was not insured - meaning that the questions started to become all the more serious.

The sentiment had started to shift: why should innocent bystanders trying to make a living now have to pay out of their own pockets to fix damages that weren't caused by them?

This sentiment meant that what happened in Birzebbuga last weekend was perhaps inevitable.

The skies over Birzebbuga's annual parish feast last weekend were quieter than previous years after a court injunction blocked the locality's feast enthusiasts from launching most of their aerial fireworks.

The injunction was issued after the owners and operators of fields adjacent to where the locality's fireworks were launched claimed to have suffered over €100,000 in damages as a result of a fire caused by fireworks on Thursday 30 July.

They took the matter to court, and the courts issued an injunction blocked fireworks from being launched at that site.

It is the first such injunction to be issued blocking aerial fireworks displays, and sources within the Maltese pyrotechnic community told The Malta Independent that this court action may very well have set a precedent affecting village feasts around the country moving forward.

Suddenly, there was - and still is - a very real possibility that this tradition is under threat.

Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea seemed to recognise this.  In comments to journalists a couple of days later, he said that a "very important balance" must be struck between preserving Maltese culture and fireworks and the concerns of people and residents stationed within fireworks productions houses and launch sites.

"I am sure that this is not the end of fireworks, but yes, it is the start of probably a new way to present these parts of our culture to the people," the Minister said, "I think, with good intentions - provided that we've got good intentions - we can reach a happy medium."

Unfortunately, it feels like this situation was inevitable.  As much as fireworks are an important part of Malta's cultural make-up, the more it went on without the necessary oversight - as appears to have been the case - then the greater risk there will be.

One cannot cause damage - even if it is done inadvertently - to other people's property and then expect to hide behind the excuse of things being a tradition to make up for it.  Keep on doing that, and the people's patience is going to wane.

The Birzebbuga case was instituted by people who themselves admitted that they are feast enthusiasts.  However, you cannot expect to cause damage to people's property and livelihood and expect to get away with it.

The way forward must be a balance: a blanket ban on fireworks, as some more extreme individuals meandering around on social media seem to want, is not the answer.  But there must be new legislation that protects both the tradition, but more so the rights of those around it.