Las Fallas Festival
I left Pamplona Monday evening at around 11 for Valencia. The bus ride was about seven hours, and I tried to sleep during most of it. We arrived in Valencia at 5:30, and it was pretty cold. My cousin Andie picked me up. I haven’t seen Andie in probably more ten years, as she lives in Spain, and it was good catching up. We drove to her place, and went to sleep.
I woke up at about nine, thanks to the loud firecrackers going off every five seconds. We had breakfast together, then I showered and changed, and met her husband, Miguel. At about eleven, we went out. Andie lives to the west, out of the center so we took a taxi to the Old Quarter, where all the craziness of the festival is.
The weather was surprisingly cool, since it was supposed to be warm, if not hot. It made walking through the crowd a whole lot bearable though. The first thing we did was eat! Churros and buñuelos with hot chocolate. Mmmm, so delicious. Then we started to walk about. The streets were jammed pack. While you’re moving, there are people coming at you from all directions. We just walked wherever. We passed by a few plazas (Plaza del Toros, Plaza de Ayuntamiento, Plaza de la Reina, Plaza de la Virgen). I saw many sights, including the Cathedral, the Market, and the Silk Exchange, but we weren’t able to visit inside. Walking around, we saw a lot of the statues, or ‘fallas,’ which is what the festival is mostly all about.
Where to begin in describing this crazy festival? Las Fallas literally means ‘The Fires’ in Valencian, a language similar to Catelan but with its own tweaks. Fallas can also refer to the statues themselves and each of the 350 communities Valencia is divided into. Las Fallas is actually a five-day festival, which culminates on the night of March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph (a holiday all over Spain, not only in Valencia).
The city is plagued with people, tourists and residents alike, immersing in the Valencian culture. Locals open shop on the streets, selling their paella, Valencian music is played everywhere, and the people dress in the traditional Valencian costume. There are plenty of activities going on, from bullfights, parades, paella contests, beauty pageants, food stalls, and street musicians and performers, to name a few.
The people enjoy setting off fireworks and petards anytime, anywhere. However there is one huge one that happens everyday, at exactly 2pm at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, called themascletá. This one is not a visual enjoyment, just explosions. A string of fireworks are ignited, and it sounds like a really, really loud drum of a marching band going on for about ten minutes. The sky turns from clear blue to misty gray as smoke fills the air. At night, and even during the day, you are also sure to say many other firework shows.
Each falla-community has a Fallera Mayor, who is the Queen of the Falla for a year. Aside from each community having one, there is also one Fallera Mayor for the entire Valencia. She is the face of the festival; she presides on all major events, makes ritual visits to Valencian organizations, etc. This title is extremely prestigious and competition is fierce. There is also a Fallera Mayor Infantil, the Queen for the children.
Another event that takes place on March 17 and 18, is the offering of flowers in the Plaza de la Virgen. There is a pardae of music and people, as they line up to offer flowers to the statue of the Virgin, eventually covering her in flowers. The wallas and basilica around the plaza are also covered with flowers, and you can smell the carnations from far away. I was able to visit the plaza, and the small really was overwhelming.
Andie and I with the Virgin covered in flowers
The main focus of the festival are the statues or fallas that you can see all over the city. They are made up of several ninots (puppets or dolls), and are huge, measuring several stories tall. The inside is made of cardboard, wood, paper-machè and plaster, and is then sanded and painted with bold and striking colors. They are constructed carefully so that when they burn, they fall in a vertical manner. There is no official theme, but they are usually satirical and depict current events, poking fun at politician and Spanish celebrities. The construction of these ninots takes up almost the entire year and can cost up to 75,000 US dollars, and is funded by the respective communities. Each community builds two fallas: the main one and a children’s one, which is much smaller. Since there are 350 communities, there are 700 statues up for display all over Valencia.
Close up of a falla
The festival is also a competition of the fallas. Not all participate though. From the 350, there are 15 Fallas Especiales. These ones are more impressive, expensive and larger, and are made by the best artistas falleros. These 15 Fallas Especiales compete for the first prize. From the winning one, one ninot, the ninot indultat (the pardoned puppet), is spared, is displayed in the Fallas Museum, along with the previous winners.
They are up for display the whole week, until March 19, the day known as La Cremá (the burning). They don’t all burn at the same time though. The burning starts at about 10pm, starting with the Fallas Infantiles. The winning falla is burned second to the last, and the falla of the Plaza de Ayuntamiento the last. The bigger Fallas start burning at midnight. Like, the Falla Infantil, the winning Falla is burned second to the last, and the one of the Plaza de Ayuntamiento the last, at 1am. For the burning of the bigger ones (usually located in the main plazas), there are local firemen on the scene to prevent the surrounding buildings from getting burned.
Falla infantil before
Falla infantil after
Back to my day. At around two, we started looking for a place to eat, but all the restaurant were packed. After walking a bit, we decided to head home first. At least we had merienda so we weren’t too hungry. Andie and Miguel got a list of restaurants and called them up, but every single one of them was full! So, we had a late lunch in a bar/restaurant near their place. The service was kind of weird, but the food was okay. I tried this appetizer called zamburiñas (a type of scallop) with squid, and I also tried octopus! It didn’t really have a weird taste, but it wasn’t super, super good either.
After lunch we went back home to have siesta. Hehe. I slept awhile and did some school work. We had dinner in the apartment, and then I watched the burning of a Falla Infantil from the balcony. After the burning, the children hold hands and walk around the ashes of the falla. (Though I have no idea why.)
At around 11 we headed back to the center to watch the burning of a Falla Especial. We didn’t go to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, but we went to one nearby. There were a lot of people, but we were able to stand somewhere in front of the Falla but a few meters away. The burning was incredible, really. Fireworks went off, and then the base was on fire. A few seconds later, the whole thing was burning. All I could really imagine was all the hard work and money that was burning together with the falla. To think that they spend a long time thinking, designing, and building the falla and it vanishes just like that. (Well, it takes about 20 minutes actually). But, it’s their tradition though it’s pretty crazy.
Fireworks...
...and it's burning.
We didn't stay long, only about 10 minutes. We headed back to the apartment, and just our luck, the falla nearby was only starting to be burned. So we stayed to watch it burn.
Falla before...
Falla after
The next day I met up with two of my friends from Pamplona (who are actually from Taiwan) and we visited the City of Arts and Sciences. The ‘city’, mostly designed by Santiago Calatrava, is composed of the ‘Hemesferic’ (Planetarium), the Principe Felipe Science Museum, the Oceanarium, the Reina Sofia Arts Palace, and the ‘Umbracle.’ Just walking around the complex is a treat, it has such a futuristic and awesome-ness atmosphere about it.
Me with L'Hemisferic and Palau de las Arts Reina Sofia in the background
L'Hemisferic by day
L’Hemisferic is a planetarium as well as an Imax theatre. We didn’t go watch a movie, nor visit the planetarium, but this is what it’s supposed to look like at night:
L'Hemisferic by night
It was built to resemble a huge eyeball, and apparently there are even steel and glass shutters operated by hydraulic lifts that allows the eye to ‘blink.’ Unfortunately, I only found out about this now, and wasn’t able to witness it.
The science museum, the centerpiece, was pretty cool, but I enjoyed other science museums a lot more. On the first floor, there was an exhibit with Superheroes, relating them with Science, which was the only part I really enjoyed. There were a few more hands-on exhibits, but nothing I haven’t seen before. The second floor was small, and about three scientists, which we, err… skipped. The third floor was mostly informative, though the exhibits were attractive. Nevertheless, we spent most of the morning here and had lunch at the cafeteria downstairs.
To get to the Oceanarium, which was about ten minutes away, we passed the Umbracle. I have no idea what it’s supposed to be, but it was a pretty walkway that was free so we passed through.
L’Oceanagrafico was amazing, and we spent the whole afternoon there. It is Europe’s biggest marina park and home to 500 species of fish and other sea creatures from every ocean of the world. The exhibits were divided into sections, like Mediterranean, Artic, Antarctic, etc. There really were a lot of other animals aside from fishes, like beluga whales, walruses, and penguins. Nothing new, but I still really enjoyed. There’s something about staring at marine life that gets me every time. We even watched a dolphin show, which never fails to bore me.
On Saturday I went to the beach with Andie and Miguel. As we drove to the coast, the city had a more beach-like atmosphere. The sun somehow seemed to be stronger, there were palm trees everywhere, and the buildings were not as tall and had a washed-out look about them. There were a lot of people on the beach, but nothing compared to the apparent summer crowd. Though it was cool, there were a lot of people dressed in bathing suits, and a few swimming. It was pretty beach, and we walked up and down the pier. It kind of reminded me of Santa Monica in the U.S., with people biking and rollerblading around, eating in the restaurants, or sunbathing. We had lunch in a restaurant called La Murciana, and of course, we had paella. We had to wait quite awhile, but it was extremely worth it! After lunch we had coffee then walked around some more.
In the evening we watched a movie at a nearby mall. Then, we had dinner at home and watched TV. I was pretty tired, so I went off to bed. The next morning, I took the bus back to Pamplona at 11am.
I had a great time visiting Valencia. I got to experience a day of Las Fallas, and visit the wonderful city. It’s a big but small city, with everything: the old quarter, cathedrals, museums, quiet zones, nice space to walk, and on the plus side, it has a beach.
P.S. The pictures of the Javierada are up for viewing.
I woke up at about nine, thanks to the loud firecrackers going off every five seconds. We had breakfast together, then I showered and changed, and met her husband, Miguel. At about eleven, we went out. Andie lives to the west, out of the center so we took a taxi to the Old Quarter, where all the craziness of the festival is.
The weather was surprisingly cool, since it was supposed to be warm, if not hot. It made walking through the crowd a whole lot bearable though. The first thing we did was eat! Churros and buñuelos with hot chocolate. Mmmm, so delicious. Then we started to walk about. The streets were jammed pack. While you’re moving, there are people coming at you from all directions. We just walked wherever. We passed by a few plazas (Plaza del Toros, Plaza de Ayuntamiento, Plaza de la Reina, Plaza de la Virgen). I saw many sights, including the Cathedral, the Market, and the Silk Exchange, but we weren’t able to visit inside. Walking around, we saw a lot of the statues, or ‘fallas,’ which is what the festival is mostly all about.
Where to begin in describing this crazy festival? Las Fallas literally means ‘The Fires’ in Valencian, a language similar to Catelan but with its own tweaks. Fallas can also refer to the statues themselves and each of the 350 communities Valencia is divided into. Las Fallas is actually a five-day festival, which culminates on the night of March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph (a holiday all over Spain, not only in Valencia).
The city is plagued with people, tourists and residents alike, immersing in the Valencian culture. Locals open shop on the streets, selling their paella, Valencian music is played everywhere, and the people dress in the traditional Valencian costume. There are plenty of activities going on, from bullfights, parades, paella contests, beauty pageants, food stalls, and street musicians and performers, to name a few.
The people enjoy setting off fireworks and petards anytime, anywhere. However there is one huge one that happens everyday, at exactly 2pm at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, called themascletá. This one is not a visual enjoyment, just explosions. A string of fireworks are ignited, and it sounds like a really, really loud drum of a marching band going on for about ten minutes. The sky turns from clear blue to misty gray as smoke fills the air. At night, and even during the day, you are also sure to say many other firework shows.
Each falla-community has a Fallera Mayor, who is the Queen of the Falla for a year. Aside from each community having one, there is also one Fallera Mayor for the entire Valencia. She is the face of the festival; she presides on all major events, makes ritual visits to Valencian organizations, etc. This title is extremely prestigious and competition is fierce. There is also a Fallera Mayor Infantil, the Queen for the children.
Another event that takes place on March 17 and 18, is the offering of flowers in the Plaza de la Virgen. There is a pardae of music and people, as they line up to offer flowers to the statue of the Virgin, eventually covering her in flowers. The wallas and basilica around the plaza are also covered with flowers, and you can smell the carnations from far away. I was able to visit the plaza, and the small really was overwhelming.
The main focus of the festival are the statues or fallas that you can see all over the city. They are made up of several ninots (puppets or dolls), and are huge, measuring several stories tall. The inside is made of cardboard, wood, paper-machè and plaster, and is then sanded and painted with bold and striking colors. They are constructed carefully so that when they burn, they fall in a vertical manner. There is no official theme, but they are usually satirical and depict current events, poking fun at politician and Spanish celebrities. The construction of these ninots takes up almost the entire year and can cost up to 75,000 US dollars, and is funded by the respective communities. Each community builds two fallas: the main one and a children’s one, which is much smaller. Since there are 350 communities, there are 700 statues up for display all over Valencia.
The festival is also a competition of the fallas. Not all participate though. From the 350, there are 15 Fallas Especiales. These ones are more impressive, expensive and larger, and are made by the best artistas falleros. These 15 Fallas Especiales compete for the first prize. From the winning one, one ninot, the ninot indultat (the pardoned puppet), is spared, is displayed in the Fallas Museum, along with the previous winners.
They are up for display the whole week, until March 19, the day known as La Cremá (the burning). They don’t all burn at the same time though. The burning starts at about 10pm, starting with the Fallas Infantiles. The winning falla is burned second to the last, and the falla of the Plaza de Ayuntamiento the last. The bigger Fallas start burning at midnight. Like, the Falla Infantil, the winning Falla is burned second to the last, and the one of the Plaza de Ayuntamiento the last, at 1am. For the burning of the bigger ones (usually located in the main plazas), there are local firemen on the scene to prevent the surrounding buildings from getting burned.
I was able to see one Falla Infantil be burned, the one outside Andie’s apartment. At around 10, I heard a lot of noise outside. I looked out my window and realized that they were about to burn the falla. I grabbed my camera and watched from the balcony. I’m not sure about the bigger fallas, but the Falla Infantil is ignited by the Fallera Mayor of its particular community.
Back to my day. At around two, we started looking for a place to eat, but all the restaurant were packed. After walking a bit, we decided to head home first. At least we had merienda so we weren’t too hungry. Andie and Miguel got a list of restaurants and called them up, but every single one of them was full! So, we had a late lunch in a bar/restaurant near their place. The service was kind of weird, but the food was okay. I tried this appetizer called zamburiñas (a type of scallop) with squid, and I also tried octopus! It didn’t really have a weird taste, but it wasn’t super, super good either.
After lunch we went back home to have siesta. Hehe. I slept awhile and did some school work. We had dinner in the apartment, and then I watched the burning of a Falla Infantil from the balcony. After the burning, the children hold hands and walk around the ashes of the falla. (Though I have no idea why.)
At around 11 we headed back to the center to watch the burning of a Falla Especial. We didn’t go to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, but we went to one nearby. There were a lot of people, but we were able to stand somewhere in front of the Falla but a few meters away. The burning was incredible, really. Fireworks went off, and then the base was on fire. A few seconds later, the whole thing was burning. All I could really imagine was all the hard work and money that was burning together with the falla. To think that they spend a long time thinking, designing, and building the falla and it vanishes just like that. (Well, it takes about 20 minutes actually). But, it’s their tradition though it’s pretty crazy.
We didn't stay long, only about 10 minutes. We headed back to the apartment, and just our luck, the falla nearby was only starting to be burned. So we stayed to watch it burn.
The next day I met up with two of my friends from Pamplona (who are actually from Taiwan) and we visited the City of Arts and Sciences. The ‘city’, mostly designed by Santiago Calatrava, is composed of the ‘Hemesferic’ (Planetarium), the Principe Felipe Science Museum, the Oceanarium, the Reina Sofia Arts Palace, and the ‘Umbracle.’ Just walking around the complex is a treat, it has such a futuristic and awesome-ness atmosphere about it.
L’Hemisferic is a planetarium as well as an Imax theatre. We didn’t go watch a movie, nor visit the planetarium, but this is what it’s supposed to look like at night:
It was built to resemble a huge eyeball, and apparently there are even steel and glass shutters operated by hydraulic lifts that allows the eye to ‘blink.’ Unfortunately, I only found out about this now, and wasn’t able to witness it.
The science museum, the centerpiece, was pretty cool, but I enjoyed other science museums a lot more. On the first floor, there was an exhibit with Superheroes, relating them with Science, which was the only part I really enjoyed. There were a few more hands-on exhibits, but nothing I haven’t seen before. The second floor was small, and about three scientists, which we, err… skipped. The third floor was mostly informative, though the exhibits were attractive. Nevertheless, we spent most of the morning here and had lunch at the cafeteria downstairs.
To get to the Oceanarium, which was about ten minutes away, we passed the Umbracle. I have no idea what it’s supposed to be, but it was a pretty walkway that was free so we passed through.
L’Oceanagrafico was amazing, and we spent the whole afternoon there. It is Europe’s biggest marina park and home to 500 species of fish and other sea creatures from every ocean of the world. The exhibits were divided into sections, like Mediterranean, Artic, Antarctic, etc. There really were a lot of other animals aside from fishes, like beluga whales, walruses, and penguins. Nothing new, but I still really enjoyed. There’s something about staring at marine life that gets me every time. We even watched a dolphin show, which never fails to bore me.
On Saturday I went to the beach with Andie and Miguel. As we drove to the coast, the city had a more beach-like atmosphere. The sun somehow seemed to be stronger, there were palm trees everywhere, and the buildings were not as tall and had a washed-out look about them. There were a lot of people on the beach, but nothing compared to the apparent summer crowd. Though it was cool, there were a lot of people dressed in bathing suits, and a few swimming. It was pretty beach, and we walked up and down the pier. It kind of reminded me of Santa Monica in the U.S., with people biking and rollerblading around, eating in the restaurants, or sunbathing. We had lunch in a restaurant called La Murciana, and of course, we had paella. We had to wait quite awhile, but it was extremely worth it! After lunch we had coffee then walked around some more.
In the evening we watched a movie at a nearby mall. Then, we had dinner at home and watched TV. I was pretty tired, so I went off to bed. The next morning, I took the bus back to Pamplona at 11am.
I had a great time visiting Valencia. I got to experience a day of Las Fallas, and visit the wonderful city. It’s a big but small city, with everything: the old quarter, cathedrals, museums, quiet zones, nice space to walk, and on the plus side, it has a beach.
P.S. The pictures of the Javierada are up for viewing.
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