Ciberfallas International

Museo Fallero

If you are not here for Las Fallas, here is your chance to get a very good idea of what it is (although Museum of the Fallero Artist is better, but further). This festival, internationally known, is unique to Valencia and so spectacular and strange that your visit will be incomplete without having a taste of it, whatever time of year you come. Every year one ninot (a figurine of a falla) is saved from fire and placed into this museum. They are so well made, that it is like being in the wax museum of Madamme Tussauds, only much more amusing (the fallas are traditionally humorous). It is also an interesting insight into the Valencian psyche, as the figures are saved by the popular vote. You will see representatives from the last 80 years of Las Fallas, as well as atmospheric posters, pictures of the best fallas and portraits of Fallera Mayor. If your Spanish is good, there are also sections on the history of the festival, on how the fallas are made, and even a model of mascleta (pyrotechnics). A 10 min video will show you all the major aspects of Las Fallas, from assembly and costumes to fireworks and the night of burning. Read the rest of this entry »

“Falles o Treballes?”

Pedro Santaeulalia, with his project "Falles? o Treballes?".

As regards the largest monument, Pedro Santaeulalia show us on this occasion his project “Falles? o Treballes?”. The design is this and his brother will be on everyone who works in the world of fallas.

Two main figures representing two of our party classic professions, a bunyolera and a coheter “rocket” to reach the finish 20 meters in height. I accompany two children, a symbol of the future of fallas, which are enjoying chocolate and buñuelos.

The different scenes with 40 ninots we show how the month of March arrives and the town prepares to celebrate their big festival, the fallas and neighbors and enjoy Falleros are available on the street. Both make it possible to take as long as possible.

So enjoy all that the fallas are offered: Monuments of ephemeral art, music, fireworks, food, beauty, environment, street, etc … to everyone. Everyone? No, not all. There are others who, on the contrary, those days are devoted to work.

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Sketch 2010 municipal monument child

Jose Luis Ceballos and Francisco Sanabria are responsible for conducting the 2010 municipal monument child. After the show in 2008 with our traditional festivals “Una ciutat en plena festa” and let us know the “Valencia 1909″ past fallas are still in line choosing teaching as a central theme of the city’s museums for “Entra i voràs”.

In recent years, our city has experienced a large increase in the number of museums and cultural centers, hosting over 30 at present. Their fields are very disparate and mingle among the classics of art, modern science, with the holidays and ethnographic or dedicated to nature, which means that Valencia is a cultural attraction.

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Pedro Santaeulalia and Ceballos and Sanabria, built 2010 municipal fallas

Pedro Santaeulalia, con su proyecto "Falles? o Treballes?".

The jury unanimously chose the projects “Falles? o Treballes?“ y “Entra i voràs“

On April 3 the deadline for submission of sketches for the conduct of municipal fallas 2010, three projects put forward for a big falla and two for children. The competition this year includes a budget of 230,000 euros for the large monument and 29,000 euros for children.

On Wednesday, April 8 to 13 “15 hours in the Press Room of the City, the jury composed of the elected people’s Lourdes Bernal, Francisco Lledó, Félix Crespo and Pilar Calabuig socialist as well as the general secretary of JCF, Vincente Fayos, announced the winners sketches.

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Ninot indultat 2009 (Federico Ferrer) Foto: Ciberfallas.com

The “ninots” are the figures that make up the scenes in the Fallas monuments. At the beginning of February, each commission contributes its best ” ninot ” (just one) to a collective exhibition that is open to the public up to the day of the “plantà” (the finishing touch), when each figure is collected by its commission, during a noisy procession with whistles and brass bands, and taken to the monument it forms a part of.

Each visitor to this exhibition has the chance to choose, from among them all, the “ninot” that he or she likes best: whether because of its originality or its design. When the time comes to close the exhibition, the votes are added up and the “ninot” with the largest number of votes is pardoned: it will have the honour of being the only “ninot” in all of Valencia that, officially, will not burn on the night of the 19th. Read the rest of this entry »

Gremio Artistas Falleros foto:Ciberfallas.com

The enormous number of professionals that depend directly or indirectly on the Fallas Fiesta gives an idea of how large and important it has become for the city.

The role of the “artista fallero” or Fallas artist should be highlighted. This professional is more than a sculptor of huge figures, more than a painter, and more than a carpenter. In fact, the “artista fallero” is a kind of “total artist” who plans the monument in his mind and then gives it shape, assisted by his own team of specialists.. Read the rest of this entry »

The "plantà"

This is a term in Valencian which, in translation, means something like “finishing touches”. It is actually the moment when the Falla’s top part is finally put in place. Since the Fallas are higher and more spectacular every year, the positioning of these pieces has become a difficult task which may take several days and which is observed with great expectation by dozens of onlookers.

Over time, the expression has become generalised: the “plantà” is now taken to be the exact moment when the Falla is completely finished and ready to be visited, with all its “ninots”, posters and various details (grass, lights, explanatory signs, etc.)

This takes place on the night of March 15th

Fallas from Valencia

The “ninot”, cardboard figures(cardboard, wood or expanded polystyrene

Ninot indultat falla Quart - Palomar

(white cork)) that accompany the monuments of the falleros. These are true works of art, carefully done by fallero artists “Artista Fallero” who worked on them during the year.

The typical structure of a Fallas monument is as follows:

- The base: this is obviously the “foundation” of the Falla. The “ninots” or figures are set up on them, representing different scenes. These are explained to visitors by posters in verse located below the “ninots”. Read the rest of this entry »

Model Falla Convento 2006

” Falla” is the name given to each one of the gigantic, sculpted structures of cardboard, wood and sometimes cork, which humorously portray the most relevant current events and personalities.

The typical structure of a Fallas monument is as follows:

- The base: this is obviously the “foundation” of the Falla. The “ninots” or figures are set up on them, representing different scenes. These are explained to visitors by posters in verse located below the “ninots”.
- The central body: this rises up from the base and is usually the part that gives the monument its body and stylistic shape, while acting to give structure and balance. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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