Fallas — is the name of the Valencian spring festival. Of course, the end of winter is celebrated not only in the Valencian Community, but throughout Spain, however, in Fallas there is something that significantly distinguishes it from other similar holidays. Something that attracts numerous tourists to the city from March 15 to 19.
Fallas — is a solemn, or better yet, festive burning of huge dolls on the night of March 19-20 (March 19 marks the Day of St. Joseph, patron saint of Valencia). Burning dolls — is the culmination of a holiday that begins in late February or early March with a parade of pyrotechnicians (mascleta).
In the first days of March, the skies of Valencia look like a New Year tree; pyrotechnic fireworks are so numerous and beautiful. In addition to professional teams of pyrotechnicians competing with each other for the most deafening and spectacular fireworks, special teams also walk around the city, dressed in black shirts and checkered scarves around their necks. They throw small bombs, firecrackers and jokes at the feet of all passers-by. Moreover, as in the case of Tomatina, the fact that passers-by or tourists do not know about the tradition of celebrating Fallas does not save them from unexpected explosions under their feet.
But the roar above and below the feet of the Spaniards seems little, and the residents themselves also take an active part in turning the city into a small volcano for these few days. Firecrackers abandon everything, regardless of age and position in society: adults, children, the elderly, students and bank employees, and all this lasts more than one day!
After the pyrotechnic parade, the next stage of the celebration of Fallas begins — offering flowers as a gift to the Holy Patroness of All the Defenseless (La Ofrenda de Flores a la Virgen de los Desamparados). Over the course of three days, city residents bring flowers to Holy Virgin Square, where a huge figure of the Virgin with the Child in her arms is installed. Women decorate the area in front of the figure and the figure itself with flowers, laying out beautiful patterns on the clothes, hands, face of the Holy Virgin and her baby with gladioli, carnations, cyclamens, lilies and other types of flowers.
On the streets of Valencia they place compositions of huge figures, fallas, which gave the name to the holiday (Photo: Alex_VLC, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
During this offering, residents wear their national costumes, and women dress up in bright, colorful handmade costumes decorated with beads, pearls or corals. If women — are the main decoration and the protagonist at the offering of flowers, then men are assigned the role of assistants during these three days. They help carry and solemnly install large compositions of flowers in the square that arrived in Valencia from the regions and regions, and also take over the organization of orchestras.
At the end of these three days, a huge paella is being prepared in a large stadium for the entire city. In general, during Fallas, the main culinary dish is — donuts with chocolate (bunuelos), which are sold around the clock throughout Valencia. Between these first two stages of the celebration of Fallas, and during them too, various carnivals, masquerades and competitions are held. For example, they choose the queen and princess of the holiday among the most beautiful girls and girls, respectively. Then these beauties, who are called flares, will give the order to begin the main event of Fallas.
The main event, called La Crema, will take place on the night of March 19, and starting from March 15, preparations for it are underway. On the streets of Valencia they place compositions of huge figures, fallas, which gave the name to the holiday. The figures or dolls depict famous politicians and actors, TV presenters and toreros in a satirical spirit. Sometimes they ridicule any human vices or events of the city or country. These compositions can reach a height of up to 20 meters; professional teams of designers, artists and carpenters are working on their creation. Moreover, today in Valencia there are even special factories where they create these dolls. Dolls are made from flammable materials: cardboard, paper, plywood, papier-mâché, and work on them begins immediately after the end of the holiday.
These huge dolls are installed all over the city, on every street. Using taps, compositions of large figures are placed, and small ones (ninot) are placed side by side by hand. These figures are colorful, with ribbons, in lush costumes, and their number in different years reached 800 pieces. It’s easy to imagine what Valencia becomes like when all the figures are installed and the multi-colored ribbons dazzle your eyes!
The annual work of dozens of people burns out in a few hours... (Photo: Lola, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
Naturally, from March 15 to 20, all roads in Valencia are blocked, and you simply cannot drive a car in the city. The figures will stand under the admiring gaze of residents and tourists for three days, during which one large and one small doll will be selected, which will avoid the fate of the rest and will be placed in the Museo Fallero, in addition, their authors will receive a prize from the mayor's office.
At 22.00, by order of the Queen of the Feast, small figures begin to be burned, and at midnight large ones also come to fire. For these three or four hours, Valencia turns into a huge blazing fire. The glow of hundreds of dolls evenly spaced throughout the city can be seen far from Valencia itself. The annual work of dozens of people burns out in a few hours. But this is such a beautiful and exciting spectacle that not a single master spares the time spent on making fallas. When the last doll burns out, another, last fireworks are heard. The grandiose, impressive fireworks display, which the city mayor's office has been saving for a whole year, lasts a whole hour.
This is where the Fallas ends, but as soon as the ashes are removed from the streets, preparations will begin for the next celebration of this bright, spring holiday.
By the way, in 2016, the Valencia holiday – Fallas – was included in the World Catalog of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.