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The
Fallas Fiesta in Valencia - The festival of fire in Valencia - Valencia
Fallas
Spain, famous for its fiestas, Valencia has to offer the best of
them all with its annual "Las Fallas" fiesta, seen as
the hottest street party of them all. If you are looking for accommodation
for Las Fallas in Valencia, we recommend www.valencia-holiday.es
for the best quality, services and prices for your Las
Fallas accommodation and Valencia
Holidays.
If you´ve never been in a war zone, Las Fallas is the closest
you will get to anything resembling one! Firecrackers and explosives going
off on every street, the smell of gunpowder, trumpeting parades, the burning
of over 350 statues which are put on display in their full satire and
beauty.
Las
Fallas is exhilarating, alarming, emotional and horrendously noisy…and
one of the most unforgettable experiences that anyone is ever likely to
have in Spain.
During Las Fallas the city is filled with "ninots" which
are giant statues constructed of wood, polystyrene and papier mache which
take a whole year to construct and consist of caricatures of politicians,
famous people, Disney and cartoon characters and are used to send out
satirical messages.
The spectacular statues placed dangerously close to, and almost as tall
as, high storey flats, are the highlight of the final night when they
are burned to a cinder amongst a display of fireworks and crackers. One
of the statues is spared each year and displayed in the Fallas
Museum.
One other spectacular display during Las Fallas, is the daily "Mascletá"
, this is an ear bashing display of firecrackers
and smoke bombs set off in the Town Hall Square (Plaza del Ayuntamiento)
at 2pm each day.
But be aware… although this is the major display, it is not the only
one! An event not to be missed if you are in Valencia during the
Fallas.
One of the most beautiful parts of Las Fallas is a ceremony called
The Offering of Flowers to Our Lady of the Forsaken. Thousands of local
women, young girls, toddlers and babies in prams form a procession in
gorgeous traditional costumes, delivering more than 30 tons of multi-coloured
carnations to the foot of the Virgin Mary. The bouquets are strategically
arranged into the scaffolding until it emerges as a giant flower statue
of the Virgin Mary.
Guide
to all of the Las Fallas celebrations
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