Las Fallas, part 2

In addition to walking around looking at the giant ninots, there's much more to see during Las Fallas.  The entertainment is non stop during these days of festival.  I'd say that yes, it's a family affair although there was a lot of drinking on the streets and parties.  It was more family oriented than Mardi Gras but on the same note, there were a lot of fireworks, firecrackers, and just noise in general...which babies were either crying or sleeping through it all.  Families venture out together in traditional fallera outfits, which I will talk about later in my third post. 

Events of Las Fallas

 

La Despertà

Each day of Falles begins at 8:00 am with La Despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands appear from the casals and begin to march down every street playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers, throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go.  Tara and I rented out an apartment and were centrally located.  So yes, the answer to your question is that we did..not..sleep..at all.


Then there's the ... Mascletà
 

Us waiting for the fireworks

A huge midday firework show that takes place in each neighbourhood at 2:00 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascletà in the town hall square. The Mascletà is almost unique to the Valencian Community, hugely popular with the Valencian people. Smaller neighbourhoods often hold their own mascletà for saint's days, weddings and other celebrations.  Why is it "unique?" because WHO does fireworks at 2p.m.?! The streets were packed full of people so excited to get to hear all this noise and then go home for their lunch.  We heard the firework show every day we were there, but only went to see it twice.

The aftermath

L'Ofrena floral (the offering)

In this event, the floral offering, each falla group takes an offering of flowers to Saint Mary. This occurs all day during 17-18 March. A statue of Saint Mary and its large pedestal (her skirt) are then covered with all the flowers. Everywhere we turned there was a parade of falleros walking with flowers walking towards the church where Mary was.  This process began at 3:30pm and went all into the night.  In addition to flowers on her skirt, there was a wall full of flowers and also big boquets put around the fountain in the Plaza de la Virgen.

This country is very Catholic, however it was strange to see this "offering" because in reality it was just a parade of Valencian people in traditional outfits, smoking, drinking, and making endless amounts of noise on their way to pay their resepect.  I don't understand that part but hey..the end result was beautiful!

Here she is!  The flower crew is just getting started on the work of art

He's thinking.."Why did I agree to this?"

The end result..flowers for daysss!

Now on to...more fireworks!!

Els Castells and La Nit del Foc

On the nights of the 15, 16, 17, and 18th there are firework displays in the old riverbed in Valencia. Each night is progressively grander and the last is called La Nit del Foc (the Night of Fire) We heard these fireworks every night at 1am sharp. Unfortunately, we didn't make our way out to go see them because we were exhausted but I'm sure they were nothing less than spectacular.

To end the celebration, there is a famous fire known as..

La Cremà

On the final night of Falles, around midnight on March 19, these falles are burnt as huge bonfires. This is known as the cremà (the burning), the climax of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions are called falles ("torches"). Traditionally, the falla in the Plaça de l'Ajuntament is burned last.  Tara and I had to catch our flight home so we missed this day but the pictures look awesome.  I can't imagine all of these creations going up in flames! Or maybe I can...but that's pretty sad considering how much time and money they spent.

http://www.travelocafe.com/2010/06/las-fallas-festival-of-fire-valencia.html

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles

It's too bad that Tara and I didn't get to stay to see this huge fire.  I'm sure the city was covered with a huge cloud of smoke, considering there are hundreds of Fallas.  I still feel as if our trip was worth it even without staying until the end.  We got to try typical food and experience one of the biggest parties in the country.

http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/society/holidays/las-fallas.asp