Fallas... A Pyro Kid's Dream!

DaVinci falla before it was burned

So for St. Patty's Day  I stayed in Madrid for once and just enjoyed myself and relaxed but the following Monday (19th) we didn't have school because it was Father's Day in Spain.  So some friends and I decided to go to Valencia for the day/night to celebrate Las Fallas.

First I will give you some information about Las Fallas.  Every year in Valencia they celebrate the end of Spring and their patron saint St. Joseph for 5 days. Every day starts with La Desperta, or the wake-up call.  A brass band walks down the street followed by people throwing firecrackers.  Every day they also have Mascletas in every neighborhood which is a large firecracker display but the loudest is on the final day.   On the 3rd day there is a large flower parade and they had a large Virgin Mary made out of flowers which you can see below.  Every day is a huge party and then for the first four nights they have a fireworks display. 

Virgin Mary flower display

Each neighborhood has a group of people, the Casal faller, that works all year long raising money and building their ninot or falla. They have 2 types of fallas a falles infantils and a falles majors.  The infantils are always smaller and generated toward children.  The major is a large paper maiche figurine that can be as tall as 20 feet.  Most of them are satirical and are used to take a jab at famous people or things.  There is a contest amongst the fallas and one fallas wins every year and is placed in the museum of the fallas.  All the others are set on fire with a huge fireworks display by 1:00 am.

DaVinci being burned

As a Spanish teacher it was a great experience and after having to teach about Fallas it makes me very excited to come back and be able to offer my students first hand photos and stories about this very strange cultural event.  Every year they spend thousands of dollars on these fallas only to burn them in the end.  It almost seems stupid, especially during a economical crisis.  Only in Spain!  My friend and I decided to watch the burning of the largest falla we saw which was the Da Vinci replica.  You can't really see in pictures but it is placed in a plaza very close to apartment homes and trees so as soon as it was set on fire firefighters had to spray water on the buildings and trees to prevent any damage.  If you ever happen to be in Spain or Europe in the middle of March Fallas is definitely worth a stop!