Las Fallas de Valencia March 15th - 19th 2014
Spain Events
Published: 09 January 2013 14:51 CET
Updated: 16 January 2014 11:56 CET
Each day of the festival begins promptly at 8am with a wake up call of firecrackers sounding across Valencia. This is called La Desperata.
Many activities follow the 8am start including the 'La Mascleta', this takes place at 2pm each day in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (the main town hall square) and there are firework displays each and every night of the festival, with the biggest and most spectacular being held on the final evening of the 19th March 2014.
On the first night of the 15th it is time for the traditional planta of the fallas. This is where more than 700 statues are erected in the city's streets and squares. Some of these statues or effigies are caricatures of politicians and celebrities or are based on anything that is relevant in the news and some of them can reach up to 20 metres in height. All this is done with much humour thrown in and is a sight not to be missed!
The Fallas will go on to be burned but before they are, everyone can see them on display all over the city. There are dozens of these to see but the main ones are the 'Secció Especial' and the town hall Falla. A winner is chosen from the 'Secció Especial' a few days before the event and this will be saved and placed in the Fallas museum for all to see in the years to come.
The celebrations continue on the days of the 17th and 18th with the garlanding of Our Lady of the Forsaken. On these two days the women and girls of the city dress up in beautiful dresses and carry flowers as they parade around Valencia, followed by a full marching band. The procession ends in the Plaza de la Virgen, where their flowers are 'offered' to a statue of the Virgin.
The main reason you'll be at the Las Fallas festival is to see the burning (La Cremá) of the 'Fallas' sculptures on the final night (above) which normally occurs between 10pm and 1am.The biggest and most important burning of the night, is that of the Ayuntamiento (town hall) Falla.
The Las Fallas de Valencia Festival truly is five days full of atmosphere, colour and fun. With so much to see and do it is easy to why so many return each year.
A full schedule of events for 2014 can be found at http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/tourist-information/leisure/festivals/the-fallas.html
Images courtesy of jcalhoun, shelmac and gyrus on Flickr.
