For five hours today, people in the Northern Territory will be able to blow up fireworks with no permits or training, to celebrate Territory Day.
It's the only time in Australia that the public sale, use and possession of fireworks without a permit is legal.
Each year it sparks debate about safety concerns, with the celebrations causing injuries and grassfires.
We take a look at how the NT became the "final frontier" of fireworks.
How did fireworks become part of Territory Day?
Territory Day marks the day when the Northern Territory shook off Commonwealth control and achieved self-government in 1978.
'Cracker Night', as the NT's public fireworks night is known, became associated with it a few years later, in the early '80s.
Originally held on Guy Fawkes Day, it was moved after the NT parliament decided that date was "inappropriate because it is based on an old English custom ... [and] not celebrated in any other State of Australia".
"Territory Day is a very significant occasion in the territory's history, and it's probably the most significant day in its constitutional history," said Peter Forrest, a Northern Territory historian.
Where do people get the fireworks from?
Hundreds of tonnes of explosives are shipped into the territory in the weeks leading up to the big day.
Crackers with names as colourful as Bad Neighbour, Nuclear Havoc and Mother Load are then packed onto the shelves of retailers, which pop up all over the territory's urban centres.
From 9am to 9pm it's "game on", according to fireworks wholesaler Luke Caridi.
"They'll start lining up from 8am, and there's usually queues out the door; and at 9am, it's game on, and it's pretty busy all day," he said.
"Once lunchtime hits, the in-demand products are sold out."
From 6pm to 11pm, it's time to set them off – and there are few limits on where that can be done, with Territory Day community events among the few places off-limits.
Official safety advice asks people to "have a hose or couple of buckets of water handy", make sure fireworks are stabilised before firing them and to light them away from trees, buildings and "anything else that [they] may hit".
Any fireworks not used by 11pm must be returned to authorities within days, with anyone holding onto the explosives after that risking a hefty $1570 fine.
Is it dangerous?
Most Territorians who support Cracker Night believe it can be done safely, if people take precautions.
"We work really, really hard to make sure those fireworks are as safe as we can make them, and on assessing them," said fireworks retailer and assessor Mark Killip.
"They're made in a fairly safe way, so it's very unlikely for you to get hurt by territory fireworks if you follow the safety instructions."
However, on a typical Cracker Night, emergency services respond to hundreds of fires and dozens of fireworks-related injuries, including burns, ear and eye injuries and blunt trauma.
Then there are the few people each year whose wild antics make national headlines, including for doing things such as aiming fireworks at other things or people.
Tim Carter, who owns a pub in the Darwin rural area which holds its own display each July 1, said it was up to people to use their own common sense.
"Look it can be dangerous, don't get me wrong," he said.
"But the show's got to go on. The territory is the last frontier - this is the way it is up here, and it's great."
Has anyone tried to ban it?
People have been trying to ban Cracker Night since it became part of Territory Day.
Other states and territories have tried and failed to ban fireworks nation-wide - which would have spelt the end of the festivities - at least twice.
The last time it happened, in 2004, then-NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson said the motion's defeat should be a warning to any other jurisdiction thinking of putting an end to the day.
Within the NT, some local councils have long called for more regulations on Cracker Night, while residents have organised petitions for the event to be shut down.
Each time there's been opposition, the NT government of the day has refused to get rid of it.
"Whenever people have asked that the date be moved, or that it be abandoned, there's been huge public outcry about it. [So] there's no denying that there i s very strong public support for the fireworks," Mr Forrest said.
Will it continue?
NT residents are divided on Cracker Night, and every year there are questions about its future.
Some see it as a dangerous and irresponsible event that should be a relic of the past.
For others it's about family fun, or a symbol of the independence the territory is known for.
"Probably what makes it special is, it's still allowed, [when] there's been so many things canned over the years," Mr Carter said.
