Reflections on Fallas

A few entries ago I mentioned that I was leaving Valencia during Fallas to go look at the boat. This being my first year living in Valencia, I hadn’t really understood what Fallas is as it approached. People had told me, and I had read, that the festival was really something amazing, and I believed them, but I had no idea what I’d be returning to when I came back on Tuesday, the second day of the official four day long celebration.

When I left on Friday there were signs that it was big. many of the streets were blocked, either by tents put out by the neighborhood Fallas organizations, called Casals, or by the massive sculptures that were placed in the intersections and plazas. By the time I got back, the festival was in full swing, with the Falleros cooking paella and arroz caldozo in the streets and the daily mascletas and despertas, as well as the random petardos echoing through the city, the tents were now full of loud music, and the Falleras were leading marching bands around all of the neighborhoods all day long. It was a jolly mayhem, from sun-up to late in the night.

One of the things I found a bit surprising is that part of the festival is the creation of temporary bookstores. Local booksellers and publishers are given space to sell their books right in the middle of the city. Amidst the craziness of the celebration you are invited to pick up a book, most often in Valenciano or Catalan.

On the second to last night the city put on a huge fireworks show at the Ciudad De Artes y Ciencias. This was much more of what we Americans think of as “fireworks,” similar to the Fourth of July in most cities in the US. In addition to the other parties and neighborhood fireworks, of course.

When the final day arrived on Thursday, the air was electric with civic pride and the whole place crackled with anticipation of the evening’s coming Cremà. Because we live right in Russafa, I knew we were in for a wild night, but was still overwhelmed with the scope. We went for a walk around Russafa as the final preparations were being made. Petardos blasted constantly, some were extremely loud, and then we came upon a team who was ready to burn their Falla.

Setting up the fireworks and preparing to burn the Falla

Here we go!

Almost gone.

So after watching that spectacle, we figured we’d go home for some shelter from the late night shenanigans. That was not gonna happen! There is a Casal right around the corner which had a tent set up blocking our street and they were just getting started. They had set up a fairly impressive array of fireworks directly in front of our flat. Rockets bursting right over our deck, and some very loud petardos which they had rigged on wires across the street to make a mini-mascleta. This video was taken from inside our living room.

Our friend Loren loves Fallas!

After that they burned their Falla, and embers were shooting skyward over the tops of the 5 and 7 story buildings on the street. There is a reason they use tile roofs here in Valencia!

I think I did the right thing by leaving for a couple of days. The petardos and partying had been going on for most of the month already, and retreating to the north allowed me to get a couple of good nights of sleep. But I’m really glad I came back to see the final night. It was amazing, and the Valencianos clearly take great pride in the festival. However, the festival is not without its detractors. It is run by a group of private clubs, and in that sense is a little exclusive. They don’t invite outsiders into their parties, despite it being in a tent that’s blocking a public tent. That is one of the major complaints about the Fallas: that it’s a huge waste of public resources for what is essentially a night of private parties.

But in the end, even though I agree with many of the complaints, I was enchanted with the spirit of Valencia on display during Fallas. Everyone is having fun, and the only bad behavior we saw was from some tourists. I felt like it was as if someone had blended Mardi Gras, The Fourth of July, and Burning Man, and spread it thickly over the third largest city in Spain.