In March, Valencia undergoes a transformation: The quiet, hard-working city changes its appearance, its sound, its smell and its rhythm and becomes the venue for an enormous week-long party. The Fallas take over the streets and provide a show that stimulates all the senses.
Cartel de Fallas 2009
It all starts at the end of February. From the ancient Torres de Serranos, the Fallera Mayor (the Queen of the Fallas), chosen from all the falleras of the city, issues the Crida: a call to her people and to everyone to come and join in the festivities. It is the beginning of an unforgettable experience: the Fallas.
The official programme offers a diverse range of activities that run through March, intensifying as the Fallas week (March, from 15th to 19th) approaches. Decorative lighting covers the 370 falla group headquarters spread throughout the city. Valencia becomes an immense and unparalleled museum, born to be destroyed, once its mission is accomplished: the exposure of the negative side of life, exposed to be ridiculed and incinerated.
Falla of the Town hall
If there is one event that stands out above all others, it is the floral offering to the Virgen de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Forsaken); all the falla groups meet at their casal (headquarters), dressed in traditional costume.
On the night of the 19th of March, St Joseph’s day, the festival reaches its conclusion; the music ends and the last firecrackers announce that it is all over for another year. A year of anticipation and effort is purified and laid to rest through the flames of the bonfires. The falleros stand and contemplate the scene as the fire devours the works of art that were created to be destroyed. The visitor experiences a strange sensation of fascination and understanding of why the fallas must be burnt. The fallero is already planning for next year’s festival; the visitor is planning to come back.
http://www.turisvalencia.es
