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San José (Saint Joseph), the patron saint of carpenters, is the official focus for the festival.

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Some taking up to a year

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Most expensive $75,000

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Paper maché, cardboard/wooden statues

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Va miercoles noche (marzo 14)
Va casa proximo miercoles manana (marzo 21)
Dura todo el mes

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Marzo 15-19

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1497

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celebracion de primivera y cultural y Saint Jose.

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Fuego artificicules

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Does the smell of gunpowder excite you? Do fires make you smile? Do you secretly harbor pyrotechnic urges that are only socially acceptable on the Fourth of July?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Las Fallas festival is your kind of event - a loud, smoky, high-spirited fiesta where flickering flames dance in the streets and plazas of Valencia! Find out the most important facts you need to know about the festival, and when you come to Valencia you'll feel right at home among the falleros and falleras.

When did Las Fallas start?

The origins of the festival are uncertain, but there are a few main theories. The most popular version says that Las Fallas comes from a centuries-old Valencian tradition in which the city's carpenters would burn old materials they didn't need on the day before the day of St. Joseph (March 19), the patron saint of carpenters. They would also burn the wooden instruments used to hold up the oil lamps they needed to use to work at night. (Since the festival is held right around the spring equinox, at this point of the year the days lasted longer and the extra hours of sunlight meant that the carpenters didn't need the light of the oil lamps to work.)

Another theory claims that the practice dates back to time immemorial, from the ancient tradition of setting fires to celebrate equinoxes and solstices (i.e., changes of the seasons). In this view, Las Fallas comes from a long tradition of fires celebrating spring. Lastly, there is an old European tradition in a which dolls or figures representing a persona non grata would be hung from balconies or posts before being flung into a fire. This theory explains the satirical nature of Las Fallas as it is celebrated today.

People may disagree about the origins of the Las Fallas, but we do know that the festival is hundreds of years old: the first written record that mentions Las Fallas is from the second half of the 18th century, when the Valencian government made various laws governing where the fires could be set.

What does Las Fallas mean? Is it Fallas or Falles?

You may hear or see the festival being referred to as Fallas (in Spanish) or Falles (in Valencian). In both cases, the word is the plural of the Valencian word falla (Spanish and Valencian form plurals differently). But what exactly does falla mean?

Over the centuries, the word falla has come a long way from its original meaning: torch. As the meaning of the word has evolved, it has taken on the connotation of the fiestas during which special torches were lit (this meaning can be seen in 13th-century Valencian texts) to referring to a bonfire lit on the in the middle of a gathering or fiesta (16th century), to referring to a fire used to burn old furniture and other discarded objects. In the 18th century, a falla became a fire lit to burn ninots (puppets or dolls) used in satire, and eventually, the figures themselves also came to be known as falles (or fallas).

Today, the word fallas has many different meanings: it may be used to refer to the festival itself, the fires that form part of the festival, the scenes that are built and later set on fire, or the communities of neighbors who manage and carry out the construction of the figures.

What is Las Fallas?

Valencia, a quiet city with a population of about 800,000, more than doubles in size when over a million fire-loving revelers are drawn to Las Fallas celebrations like moths to a flame.

The festival lasts five days, from March 15 to 19, but the atmosphere starts to build weeks before: starting on March 1 (and continuing through March 19), a thunderous firecracker show called a mascletà is held every day at 2 p.m. in Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The firecrackers shake the ground for next 10 minutes, as the mascletá is an auditive experience rather than a visual one. (Incredible visual fireworks displays are also held every night from March 15-19.)

The festival really gets cracking on March 15, with La Plantà, when more than 700 enormous ninots (puppets or dolls) are set up around the city, and most roads are cut off to traffic, making way for all the people and activities that will fill the streets during the days and nights the fiesta.

For many, the main focus of Las Fallas is the creation and destruction of ninots, which are huge statues made of papier-mache, cardboard, wood, or plaster. The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually depict bawdy, satirical scenes and current events. Many ninots are several stories tall, and cranes are needed to move them into their final locations in Valencia's parks, plazas, and intersections. Several ninots are organized together to make the multi-faceted story of each falla.

Over the next few days, people walk around the city, admiring the artistry and humor of the creative masterpieces and enjoying the traditional pastries being sold on (seemingly) every street corner. For the most authentic local experience, try the Valencian classic bunyols de carabassa (pumpkin fritters) with a cup of chocolate.

The ninots remain in place until all the fallas are set aflame on March 19, the day known as La Cremà (the burning).

Each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote. It is called the ninot indultat (the pardoned ninot) and is exhibited in the local Fallas Museum along with the other favorites from years past.

In addition to the daily firecracker extravaganzas and the climactic burning of the ninots, a myriad of other events also form part of Las Fallas. Festival goers can enjoy an extensive roster of bullfights, music, parades, paella contests, flower offerings, and beauty pageants around the city.

Can't make it to Valencia in March? Check out other Spanish festivals to plan your trip around.

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Does the smell of gunpowder excite you? Do fires make you smile? Do you secretly harbor pyrotechnic urges that are only socially acceptable on the Fourth of July? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Las Fallas festival is your kind of event - a loud, smoky, high-spirited fiesta where flickering flames dance in the streets and plazas of Valencia!

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Whilst thousands of festivals are celebrated all over Spain throughout the year there are only a few that bring overseas visitors specifically for the event. The Fallas fiesta which takes place in Valencia from 15th to the 19th of March every year is undoubtedly one of those 'super-festivals' attracting many foreign visitors as well as Spanish tourists from all over the country. This was the first major festival I ever went to in Spain and to this day cannot get over the sheer craziness of it all.

San José (Saint Joseph), the patron saint of carpenters, is the official focus for the festival. It all started back in the Middle Ages when carpenters used to hang up planks of wood called 'parots' in the winter to support their candles when they were working. 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 personality. These became the forerunners of the contemporary 'ninots', the enormous cardboard, wooden, polyurethane, Styrofoam, cork, plaster and papier-maché figures of today. The authorities later decided to link the burning of the 'parots' with Saint Joseph's Day to try to stop it getting out of control!.

Nowadays, each neighbourhood has an organising committee, the 'casal faller', who raise the necessary finances for constructing the 'ninots'. There is even an area of the city called the 'Ciutat Fallera' where whole groups of workers and designers spend months creating all the incredible towering tableaux. The 'ninots', which are placed at key places throughout the city, are often cruel satirical lampoons of well-known Spanish and international celebrities or politicians.

A Day at the Fallas

If you decide to go to the Fallas festival prepare for an early start. Each day begins with a startling wake-up call known as 'La Despertà' at the ridiculous time (in Spain) of 8am. You'll just love being woken by brass bands marching down the streets accompanied by those preposterously loud firecrackers; which themselves activate car and shop alarms - just to make sure you're ready for a day's fun.

All day, you'll see processions and hear explosions and then at 2pm 'La Mascletà' begins when there are organised pyrotechnical explosions all over the city, especially in Valencia's main square, the Plaza Ayuntamiento. At first you'll think they're earth-shattering but they're just an appetizer for what will come later.

On each night there is a firework display in the old river bed and they escalate in degrees of spectacle culminating in La Nit de Foc (the Night of Fire) on 18th March. The following night la Cremà takes place when all the 'ninots' are burnt. Neighbourhoods will have their own 'falla infantile' for the children at about 10pm and then, at around midnight, the neighbourhood 'fallas' will begin. The final, grandest fire, in the Plaza Ayuntamiento, won't get under way until 1am at the earliest with huge crowds waiting in eager anticipation of the burning. The 'ninots' will all have been stuffed full with fireworks, the street lights switched off and the firemen will be in position when the 20 to 30 foot models, which took months of painstaking construction, will be razed to the ground. Each year, one 'ninot' is spared the ordeal (as a result of a public vote) whilst the rest suffer a spectacular fate.

A Festival of Noise and Fire

However loud you think this is going to be you'll be wrong. There is no way of beginning to describe the amount of noise generated. Pregnant women are forbidden from attending and each year people are injured or faint. It is true that you should keep your mouth open to allow the sound to escape and not echo around your head - or something like that - but be prepared to feel the ground shake beneath your feet and your head to spin uncontrollably. This is an adrenaline rush with few equals and a completely unique experience.

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.

Whilst photos of the event give you some idea what the effigies are like they cannot portray the atmosphere of the city during this crazy fiesta. The following video goes some way to giving you a feel for street life during the festival. You'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching a news report on TV from a war zone!

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. And 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! For more information and a calendar of events please refer to the Official Falles de València Website.
If you've been to the Fallas festival please let us know what you thought of it in the comments section below.

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Las Fallas | Festival of Fire in Valencia

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Whilst thousands of festivals are celebrated all over Spain throughout the year there are only a few that bring overseas visitors specifically for the event. The Fallas fiesta which takes place in Valencia from 15th to the 19th of March every year is undoubtedly one of those 'super-festivals' attracting many foreign visitors as well as Spanish tourists from all over the country.

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Everything you need to know about Las Fallas in Valencia

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Wanna know what's the most fun experience to have in Valencia? It's Las Fallas, an important festival that happens eve...

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The Origin of Las Fallas

It is one of the most well known fiestas in Spain and the most important festival in Valencia: Las Fallas.

As you all know, the festival lasts over several days, finishing up with the impressive burning of the fun, brightly colored and enormous-sized figures, or ninots as they are known. Therefore, we're not going to tell you what Las Fallas is, but rather tell you where the festival originated.

Beginning with the name. "Falla" in medieval Valencian means "torch". Las fallas at one time, many years past was nothing more than the old torches that were placed in the watch towers that defended the city. However, in Llibre dels feits (a book written between the 13th and 14th centuries), a story is told of King Jaime I 's men who would carry torches in order to light him. Continuing on from there, these torches were also used for illuminating fiestas, which is why the name "falla" ended up being used as the name synonymous with the celebration.

A legend goes that the carpenters would hold a fiesta on their patron saint day - San José on March 19th and they would burn wood chips in the doorways of their workshops to celebrate the winter arriving to its end. For this they would use a lamp called a "parot". Over time the carpenters tried to outdo one another, adorning their bonfires and even dressing the parot as a person or client who had been particularly annoying to them throughout the year. This custom has continued to evolve and every year the montages seen are more complicated and spectacular than before.

There are also those who say that Las Fallas comes from a far simpler origin - a variation of other popular festivals in which effigies would be thrown into the fire for representing an unpopular person such as a demon or the personification of the winter season. In the Valencian community these festivals can still be found, such as the El vell i la vella in Picassent and Llíria or the Parot de Mitja Cuaresma in Castalla.

None of these theories has ever been proven due to a lack of historical documentation. The first written documentation of Las Fallas dates back to 1784. Interestingly, it is noted in the city transcripts by the authorities, that it is prohibited to burn "fallas" in the streets of the city and instead must place them in areas of sufficient space.

Be what may their origin, you have to remember that Las Fallas has been celebrated for over 200 years ... and there is still plenty of wood left to be burnt.

To read this article in Spanish click here

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It is one of the most well known fiestas in Spain and the most important festival in Valencia: Las Fallas. As you all know, the festival lasts over several days, finishing up with the impressive burning of the fun, brightly colored and enormous-sized figures, or ninots as they are known.

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Ninotos  - enormous statue

Fuego - Fire

Quemar - To Burn

Plastico - plastic

Madera - Wood

Carton - cardboard

Fuente - source

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Valencia welcomes in Spring with the Fallas. During the months proceeding this unique spectacle, a lot of hard work and dedication is put into preparing the monumental and ephemeral cardboard statues that will be devoured by the flames. The festival has been designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2016.

The Fallas are Valencia's most international festival. In a competition of art, ingenuity and good taste, during the week beginning on 19 March the city fills with gigantic cardboard monuments, the ninots. The celebration's origins go back to the parots of the carpenters: a wooden lamp that was used to light the workshops in winter and was burned in the street on the eve of San José's Day. At first, they were given a human appearance by decorating them with old clothes, but in the mid-19th century, they started making them bigger and taller and improving their forms to convert them into decorative dolls.

Although the most important events are held during the week beginning on the 19th, Valencia starts preparing the festivities on 1 March with the mascletás, the firework displays held every day at 2 pm at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Finally, the night of 15 March arrives, when the traditional plantà of fallas takes place. Work goes on all night to install the more than 700 figures in the city's streets and squares. Some are even begun to be set up days beforehand, as these enormous statues can reach up to 20 metres in height. On the morning of the 16th, Valencia dawns inhabited by caricatures and satirical representations which, with great sense of humour, criticise politicians, celebrities and the most significant current events.

These impressive scenes can be enjoyed during the following days until, on the night of the 19th to the 20th, the cremà takes place. This is the moment when they are burnt amid a fascinating spectacle of light, music and fireworks All are burnt apart from one ninot which, chosen by popular vote, is saved from the flames to join the collection of the Fallas Museum. Another of the most emotional moments of the Fallas is the floral offering to the Virgin Mary, when the Falla committees parade on 17 and 18 March and in honour of the patron saint form a 14-metre-high mountain of flowers. Open-air celebrations, parades, bullfights, competitions and other entertainment events complete the programme of these festivities.

Practical information

Schedule

* Information may be subject to modifications

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Fallas bonfire festival of San José. 2019. Fiestas in Valencia. Valencia | spain.info USA

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Valencia welcomes in Spring with the Fallas. During the months proceeding this unique spectacle, a lot of hard work and dedication is put into preparing the monumental and ephemeral cardboard statues that will be devoured by the flames. The festival has been designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2016.

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Video de Las FALLAS

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A Guide to the Street Food of Spain's Las Fallas de Valencia

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The Spanish festival is kicking off in Valencia, here's how to eat your way through it!

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Aquí se explica en español simple

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Fallas of Valencia - Easy Spanish - Spanish Festivals #3

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Learn Spanish! The Spanish festival of Fallas is happening at the moment. In this video I explain the main events. Do you want me to keep making videos? Support me on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/DreamingSpanish Learn Spanish by watching easy videos! This is a channel that tries to provide interesting comprehensible input for learners of Spanish.

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Google Slides - create and edit presentations online, for free.

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Create a new presentation and edit with others at the same time. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Slides to edit PowerPoint files. Free from Google.

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- Groupo el vuelo de Indianapolis va Valencia Spain ($1,224)
- Dormir a Sercotel Hotel Sorolla Palace de siete dias ($163 dia)
- Dia uno el vuelo y comer y dormir en hotel
- Dia dos va Museo Fallero y mirar el empiezo de las fallas festival
- Dia tres va caminar Valencia y mirar las fallas
- Dia cuarto va a L'Oceanogràfic y mirar las fallas a noche
- Dia cinco va a Valencia Bioparc mirar animalas y las fallas a noche
- Dia sies mirar el fin de las fallas festival
- Dia siete volvio a casa

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What does the traditional clothing or parade look like?