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Fallas of Valencia
Spanish Celebrations
* Spanish celebrations
THE FESTIVAL OF SAN FERMIN
30 celebrations in Spain are declared
“FIESTAS OF INTERNATIONAL TOURIST
INTEREST”
* Spanish celebrations
Holy week
* Spanish celebrations
TOMATINA OF BUÑOL
On the night of the 24th there is a spectacular fireworks display in honour of Saint James the Apostle, while a large fireworks castle which imitates the facade of the cathedral
also burns.
* Spanish celebrations
FEAST OF SAINT JAMES THE APOSTLE IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
* Spanish celebrations SEVILLE APRIL FAIR
A week-long festival of flamenco dancing, horse shows and bullfighting in the capital of Andalucía
Carnival of Tenerife
The Festival of San Fermin, Las Fallas, the April Fair and Holy Week in Seville are some of our
most popular festivals internationally, but throughout the year there are many other
celebrations all over Spain.
* Spanish celebrations
Giants and bigheads
The April Fair
* Las FallasBut there is one celebration that combines tradition, colour, music,
lights...
Las Fallas of
Valencia
Las Fallas takes place in
Valencia, which sits on the east coast of Spain
* Las Fallas
Las Fallas is a festival held from 15 to 19 March in commemoration of St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters.
Monumental, yet transitory cardboard statues are carefully built over the course of months, to then be devoured by fire in a unique spectacle
* Las Fallas
Crews of artists and artisans,
sculptors, painters, and many others all spend months
producing elaborate
constructions of paper and wax,
wood and styrofoam.
NINOTS The ninots (puppets or dolls) are caricatures and satirical representations that criticise politicians, celebrities and the most relevant events in the news, with a great sense of humour.
* Las Fallas
NINOTS
* Las Fallas
These are groups in charge of organising and setting up the Fallas Fiesta.
They take their names from the intersection of streets or squares where they set up their Fallas monument.
There are more than 400 Fallas Committees in the city of Valencia
FALLAS COMMITTEES
* Las Fallas
During the four days leading up to 19 March, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate monument in a street of the given neighbourhood. This whole assembly is a falla.
FALLAS COMMITTEES
* Las Fallas
It is the moment when the Falla’s top part is finally put in placeThe positioning of these pieces may take several days
Now the Falla is completely finished and ready to be visited, with all its “ninots”, posters and various details
This takes place on the night of March 15th
LA PLANTÀ
* Las Fallas STREETLIGHT
DISPLAY
Every corner of Valencia is decorated with a multicoloured display of hundreds of garlands of lights, in a multitude of shapes, colours and bold designs.
* Las Fallas
STREETLIGHT DISPLAY
* Las Fallas
These are the queens of the fiesta, the
official representatives of the Fallas organisation.
“FALLERAS MAYORES”
* Las Fallas
Nowadays, the figure of the “Falleras Mayores de Valencia” has reached a considerable level of importance in the city’s life and they frequently appear at the most significant events that take place in the city throughout the year.
* Las Fallas
It is the floral offering to St. Mary, Virgin of the Defenseless
THE OFRENDA
* Las Fallas
On March 17th and 18th hundreds of participants, dressed in regional attire, file from their falla to the Basilica of the Virgin with bands of musicians to offer flowers
THE OFRENDA
* Las Fallas Although the most important acts are
held during the week of the 19th, Valencia is busy preparing the festive atmosphere from 1 March with the mascletás, noisy firework displays that take place every day at 2 AM in Town Hall Square
MASCLETÀS
* Las Fallas
MASCLETÀS
* Las Fallas
This pyrotechnical festival (“night of fire”) takes place on the night between the 18th and the 19th March and acts as a preamble to the main day of the Fallas.
NIT DEL FOC
* Las Fallas
NIT DEL FOC
* Las Fallas
LA CREMÀIt marks the finish of the Fallas Festival
The splendid monuments, which a few hours before stood proudly in the streets and squares, are reduced to ashes amidst the clamour of hundreds of people.
In the early hours between the 19th and 20th of March, enormous pyres burn around the whole city.
* Las Fallas
LA CREMÀ
* Las Fallas
LA CREMÀ
* Las Fallas
Not all the puppets get burned. There is a public vote to decide on the very best puppets for this year. These are taken to the Museo Fallero, Valencia's Fallas museum.
LA CREMÀINDULTAT
NINOT INDULTAT(The pardoned
puppet)
* Las Fallas
THE FIRE PARADE
On the final evening of Fallas, at 7pm on March 19, a parade takes place along the streets of Valencia. This spectacular celebration of fire, the symbol of the fiesta’s spirit, is the grand finale of Fallas.
* Las Fallas
It incorporates floats, giant mechanisms, people in costumes, rockets, gunpowder, street performances and music.
THE FIRE PARADE
* Las Fallas
Open-air celebrations, parades, bullfights, competitions and other activities complete the festive programme.
OTHER EVENTS
* Las Fallas
OTHER EVENTS
* Las Fallas
The origin of the celebration dates back to the ancient tradition of the carpenters of the city, who on the eve of their Patron Saint, Saint Joseph, burnt unusable waste in front of their workshops along with the wooden lamps they used in the winter.
HISTORY
At first they would make them look like human forms by decorating them with old clothes and fabric. In the mid-19th century, however, they began to increase in size and height and to improve their forms, becoming huge decorative statues.
* Las Fallas
More than 77 statues in the city’s streets and squares
The statues can reach up to 20 metres in height
More than 2 million visitors to the city
FACTS AND FIGURES
*Thank you!
