Fallas Fiesta What happens at the festival in the day? Weblinks What is the history behind the festival? When and where is the festival? Fallas Fiesta Other information What happens at the festival in the day? Weblinks What happens at the festival at night?

Where and when is the festival? If you are in Valencia from 15th to the 19th of March each year, you will undoubtedly have gone there for the sole purpose of witnessing one of the most incredible festivals in a country where incredible festivals are the norm rather than the exception. Back to home

History of the Festival St Joseph (pictured left), the patron saint of carpenters, is the official focus for the festival. At the onset of spring these pieces of wood would be burned, as a way of celebrating the end of dark winter working days. After a while, they began to put clothing on the parot, and then started to try to make it identifiable with a well-known local person. These became the enormous cardboard and papier maché figures of today. The authorities later decided to link the burning of the figures with Saint Joseph’s Day – to try to stop it getting out of control! The figures are placed at key places throughout the city and represent well-known Spanish and international celebrities or politicians. Back to home

What happens at the festival during the day? All day, you’ll see processions and hear explosions and then at 2 in the afternoons, La Mascletà, begins – when there are organised explosions all over the city. You will think they are earth-shattering; but they’re just an appetizer for what will come later. Back to home

Back to home What happens at Night? On each night there is a firework display in the old river bed and they escalate in degrees of spectacle until the final night, 19th March. This is the famous event when the enormous figures are destroyed. The final, grandest fire, in the main square, won’t get under way until 1 am at the earliest. The figures will all have been stuffed full with fireworks, the street lights switched off and the bombs will be in position when the 20 to 30 foot models, which took months of painstaking construction, will be burned to the ground. Each year, one figure is spared the ordeal – as a result of a public vote: the rest suffer a spectacular fate. Back to home

Back to home Other Information Advice for Tourists And please don’t think you can rest up during the day to prepare yourself for the evening’s bombardments. After you’ve been unceremoniously startled awake at 8 o’clock, the whole of Valencia is one enormous street party, with various parades, pageants, beauty shows, paella competitions and bullfights all over the city. Hotels in Valencia and the surrounding areas sell out many months before the Fallas festivals so be sure to book your Valencia hotel well in advance. Our final tip – make sure you don’t ever book to go back to work on March 21st: you’ll need at least two days rest and relaxation before you can even think about it! Back to home

Weblinks http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraphtv/7511280/Las-Fallas-Valencias- festival-of-fire.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/society/holidays/las-fallas.asp http://www.valenciavalencia.com/culture-guide/fallas/fallas.htm Back to home