Ciberfallas International

Casal Albacete-Marvá

This is the main office and business headquarters of each Fallas Committee. Above and beyond that, though, “El Casal” is the neuralgic centre of the group’s daily frenzy of activity, not just during the Fallas Festival, but also during the rest of the year.

It is there where the Fallas’ financial and business organisation takes place and, when the fiesta arrives, the Casal doors are opened up to locals, tourists and “Falleros” from other commissions to share such a special time with them. Read the rest of this entry »

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.
The Committee’s members pay a monthly fee that entitles them to take part in countless activities, competitions, celebrations and events throughout the whole year.

Crida 2006

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Fallera Mayor of Valencia de 2008

The revered figure of the Fallas Queen acquires more importance than the President of the Fallas Commission himself. She is chosen from among the young ladies belonging to the Commission.

She will have her own Court of Honour comprising a selection of graceful young ladies. All this is arranged long before the actual festivity in what is known as the “exaltation”, or the election of the Adult and Child Queens and their Courts. 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

A tremendous celebration of fire, the spectacular Cabalgata del Fuego (Fire Parade) takes to the streets of Valencia in the evening of 19th March.

Fire is the fiesta’s symbolic spirit and the Fallas final destination. So this parade is an exhibition of the varied rites and displays from around the world which, use fire as a basic feature.

This is a colourful, noisy event, with floats, giant mechanisms, people in costumes, rockets, gunpowder, street performances, music… All at nightfall, as the time approaches for the “Ninots” (sculptures) to be consumed by flames.

Ninots Exhibition

Falleras Mayores in Ninots Exhibition

At the exhibition you can admire the ninots, cardboard figures that accompany the monuments of the falleros, which have been selected from each of the Junta Central Fallera commissions, and which will be returned to their respective fallas for the celebration. These are true works of art, carefully done by fallero artists “Artista fallero” who worked on them during the year.

The public plays an important part in the exhibit, for their votes will decide which of the cardboard figures is to be indultado, or saved from the fire, and taken to the Museo Fallero, where it will be kept along with all the ninots indultats that since 1934 have been spared. Read the rest of this entry »

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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