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In olden days there was only one Band Club in Gudja which bore the
name of 'Kazin Santa Marija', which means 'Our Lady of Assumption Club'
adopting the name from the Titular feast of the village, the feast of
the Assumption of Our Lady celebrated on the 15th August.
In
1919 the club members had a disagreement between themselves and the
Club was closed, but the members divided themselves into two groups;
one group formed the Our Lady of Consolation Band Club and rented the
premises at no. 12, Saint Mary Street, Gudja; and the other group
formed another Band Club.
The feast of Our Lady of
Consolation, which was being organized by the members, progressed quite
quickly, and besides the procession with the beautiful Statue of Our
Lady, the new club began introducing fireworks. Some of it was being
bought while some of it was being worked in a clandestine manner in
various private agricultural rooms, without a licence, thus being
dangerous to the people involved.
Early in the year
1924, Fedele Spiteri, together with Abraham Scicluna and Emanuel
Mallia, all three being enthusiast Club members, asked the Archbishop's
Curia to give them a small plot of land on which the Club could build a
fireworks' complex. Their plea was granted and in September, 1924,
Mons. Panzavecchia was appointed by the Curia to appear on their behalf
in a deed witnessed by Notary Giuseppe Vella, to transfer part of the
field (known as San Anton, situated at "Tal-Lampat", limits of Gudja)
to the Our Lady of Consolation Band Club.
In a short
time the complex was built, and naturally even the amount of fireworks
increased considerably, now that it was being carried out in a safer
place. These new efforts brought people from the neighbouring villages
to Gudja to enjoy the feast and admire the fireworks. The first person
to hold a Police licence to operate and supervise this factory was
Salvatore Cutajar, who also worked the surrounding fields. Gio Maria
Dalli took over, then Sinforiano Desira, Carmelo Dalli, and presently
the Licence is in the hands of the Committee who represent the Band
Club, under the guidance of Loretu Dalli.
Nowadays, to
work in the fireworks' factory, a person has to be aware of the danger
involved by attending lectures on the subject and also sit for
examinations in connection with the issue of the respective licence.
There
are several workers in the "Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory"
who hold either Police licence "A" or "B". Presently the fireworks
produced are so professional that besides providing fireworks for the
two feasts in Gudja, commissions from other towns and villages are
coming in for fireworks for their respective feasts.
The Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory, Gudja won two editions of the Malta Mechanised Ground Fireworks Festival – the 2009 edition and last year’s edition
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