Las Fallas de Valencia: The Spanish festival of burning wood and papier-mâché
If visiting Spain is on your bucket list, make sure you do it in spring and start with the city of Valencia. Why? Because you will get to witness a festival with fireworks, live music, and most prominently, hundreds of towering cartoonish monuments filling the streets which, eventually, are ceremoniously burned to the ground. You may have heard about it in movies or books. It’s called Las Fallas de Valencia, Spain’s annual fire festival. Here’s everything else you need to know about it, starting from origins to traditions.
The pagan origin
This coming-of-spring festival happens from 15th to 19th March and has both pagan and Christian origins. But first things first. What does Las Fallas mean? Well, it refers to the elaborate and artistic monuments that are first made and then set ablaze as part of the festival.
Now, coming back to its roots, it can be traced back to the spring-cleaning practices of pagan Valencian carpenters who used to make wooden beams with torches in winter to help them work after hours, even during the absence of daylight within the warm comforts of their homes. However, ahead of spring, they would clear their spaces of these beams, pile them up and simply burn them together in the nearby streets, along with other craftsmen. The major attraction was setting up the biggest bonfire, and whichever carpenter won the contest was celebrated with a lot of pomp and show and feast. Eventually, to gather more items for the bonfire, the carpenters started making other wooden stuff as well as papier-mâché. And guess what? It was just a matter of time before it resulted in the formation of towering monuments that adorned the street and were later burned down. However, it wasn’t until March 1740, that Las Fallas de Valencia got its due recognition when it was prohibited by the municipality.
The Catholic origin
Prior to the 15th century, Spain was ruled by the Catholic kingdom of Castile in the north and the Pagan kingdom of Aragon in the south. However, when King Ferdinand II of Castile and Isabella I of Aragon fell in love, the two kingdoms were merged and the Kingdom of Spain was established. With this, the pagan and catholic traditions too merged, with the former taking precedence. This is when Las Fallas de Valencia too got catholicised and was culminated on 19th March, the day of St. Joseph (celebrates the birthday of Joseph, father of Jesus Christ).
Interestingly, every year, over a million tourists visit Valencia to be a part of Las Fallas celebrations, the festival which was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2016.
Tracing the traditions
Over the centuries, the humble and local tradition of Valencian working class has transformed into a well-funded and widely celebrated Spanish festival, popular with the wealthy class. In fact, the meaning of las fallas too evolved from tall and decorative monuments to rich neighbourhood committee (now called ‘fallas’) who organise the festival, collect donations, gather members, hold parades and street parties that continued throughout the night. In fact, these fallas often adorn themselves in 18th century handmade ornamental costumes that mostly include matching jackets with names on the front. In fact, the men wearing such traditional costumes are called falleros, and the women are called falleras. They are responsible for representing their localities, making public appearances, delivering speeches and taking part in all religious and cultural events.
As for the original fallas, they take 12 months to be made and are usually 30 feet tall. They are generally built out of wooden scaffolding that covers a layer made of cardboard, papier-mâché, and foam. This foam is customised into different shapes, vibrant colours and in recent times, pop culture figures and characters. While most fallas are burnt down, a smaller prototype called ‘ninot’ is selected as the winner and displayed at the Fallas Museum in Valencia for the next one year. Fallas are also used to convey political, social or satirical messages.
A look at the major events
Las Fallas de Valencia is mainly divided into the following four events:
- La Crida: It’s the very first day of the festival during which the entire town of Valencia gathers in front of Torrs Serranos (Medieval City Gates) to hear speeches of the city’s mayor and all the falleros and falleras. It ends with the first official fireworks.
- Mascleta & Nit del Foc: The fireworks that take place during the day throughout the five days at 2 PM are called Mascleta. It lasts for eight minutes and displays hundreds of colourful fireworks shot by cannons. It’s more of an audio than a visual experience. The night-time fireworks start every evening right after sunset and continue till supper time. They are called Nit del Foc.
- La Ofrenda de Flores: On 17th and 18th March, the falleros and falleras dressed in their traditional attires take part in city-wide parades and each of them carry flowers as offerings for Virgin Mary. In fact, a wooden idol of Virgin Mary, the protector of Valencia, is erected and placed at the centre of the city, who is adorned with white and red coloured flowers. The parades happen throughout the day, well past midnight.
- La Crema: On the final day (19th March), it’s time to pay homage to St. Joseph, the patron saint of Valencia. After dinner, people gather near the city hall and take part in igniting the fallas, 10 pm onwards.