Every march there is a very special festival happening in Valencia, Spain.
It´s called Las Fallas.
It´s called Las Fallas.
What is it all about? Three weeks of a loud, smoky, high-spirited fiesta where the whole town is literally set ablaze! :)
And as Valencia has a very special place in my heart after one year of my life spent in this amazing sunny city, there was no thinking twice for me to visit it again this year.
Next to be part of Valencia´s amazing festival I met my friends from last year Erasmus. It feels so good to see familiar faces and realize nothing really changed - seems like we haven´t see each other just for a week.. and our story continues :)
Back to Fallas..
Las Fallas is undoubtedly one of the most unique and
crazy festivals in Spain. Then again, Spain is a country known for its
unique and odd fiestas. What started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the
patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day, multifaceted
celebration involving fire.
Las Fallas literally means "the fires" in Valencian. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots (“puppets”
or “dolls”), which are huge cardboard, wood, paper-machè and plaster
statues.
The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually depict bawdy,
satirical scenes and current events. A popular theme is poking fun at
corrupt politicians and Spanish celebrities.
The labor intensive ninots, often costing up to US$75,000, are crafted by neighborhood organizations and take almost the entire year to construct. Many ninots
are several stories tall and need to be moved into their final location
of over 350 key intersections and parks around the city with the aid of
cranes on the day of la plantà (the rising).
The ninots remain in place until March 19th, the day known as La Cremá (the
burning). Starting in the early evening, young men with axes chop
cleverly-hidden holes in the statues and stuff them with fireworks. The
crowds start to chant, the streetlights are turned off, and all of the
ninots are set on fire at exactly 12am (midnight). Over the years, the
local bomberos (firemen) have devised unique ways to protect
the town's buildings from being accidentally set on fire by the ninots:
such as neatly covering storefronts with fireproof tarps. Each year, one
of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote. This ninot is called the ninot indultat (the pardoned puppet) and is exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along with the other favorites from years past.
-La Crema-
The Origin
The origin of las Fallas is a bit murky, but most credit the fires as an evolution of pagan rituals that celebrated the onset of spring and the planting season. In the sixteenth century, Valencia used streetlights only during the longer nights of winter. The street lamps were hung on wooden structures, called parots, and as the days became longer the now-unneeded parots were ceremoniously burned on St. Joseph's Day. Even today the fiesta has retained its satirical and working-class roots, and the well-to-do and faint-of-heart of Valencia often ditch out of town during Las Fallas.
Besides the burning
There is a myriad of other
activities during the fiesta. During the day, you can enjoy an extensive
roster of bullfights, parades, paella contests and beauty pageants
around the city. Spontaneous fireworks displays explode everywhere
during the days leading up to La Crema, but the highlight is the daily mascletá
which occurs in the Plaza Ayuntamiento at exactly 2pm.
-people waiting mascleta to begin; city centre 2pm...-
-...and fire-
When the
string-lined firecrackers are ignited, the thunderous, rythmitic sounds
they make can be considered music as the sound intensifies in volume.
Those firecrackers timed to fall to the ground literally shake the floor
for next ten minutes, as the mascletá is more for auditive enjoyment than visual.
~by http://www.donquijote.org/
Every night there is also real firework - where "real" means 20 or more minutes long. Breathtaking.
Ofrenda de las Flores
The Offering of the Flowers
For two days during Las Fallas
festival the city is taken over by parades of traditional costume
and music bringing flowers to the centre of Valencia - to make a huge
statue of Virgin out of them.
-wooden sculpture-
-throwing flowers to the top-
-Plaza del Virgen covered with flowers-
This event is not just around the Plaza de la Virgen.
The entire city is moving in and out. Never have seen so many colours, never have heard so
much Spanish music, and never have been so deaf from explosions :)
~ by valencia.valencia.com
____________________
..till next year :)
Tanja V.
