Las Fallas

Here in Valencia, there is a huge festival called Las Fallas. Various events happen over the span of a month (February  23- March 19) with the main events happening March 14-19. Artists work all year to build huge, detailed statues made of wood, Styrofoam, and paper mache. Las Fallas is really the only time the public can criticize the government in Spain so the statues (called 'ninots') allow for the artist to bring light to political problems in a satirical manner. At the end of Las Fallas they burn the statues. I got a tour of one of the work shops and attended some of the festivities around town. This was not my first Las Fallas however. When I was here in 2015 they had the statues all in the street and fireworks in the sky but I did not get to see them burn, which was one of my favorite parts this year.

Parades
Everyday, a new parade would take on a new part of the city. The parade had bands, Falleras, and Falleros (see the pictures). They would close down major streets for hours just so the parade could pass. I personally loved the dresses of the Falleras.
 
 Food
Street vendors set up on every corner of the city and I gave into temptation at least once a day. They served traditional Spanish street food like patatas bravas, bocatas, kebaps, churros, and my favorite, bunelos de calabaza. They also had drink stands that served beers and mojitos all day so let's just say no one was every thirsty.

Fireworks
The firework shows were my favorite part of the entire festival. On Fridays/Saturdays around 12am-1am the city of Valencia put on the most amazing firework show I have ever seen in my life. The location changed every week and we got to see them over the beach, ocean, Turia, La Plaza de Ajuntamiento and so many more places. Sorry US, but you HAVE to step your game up for 4th of July fireworks. The shows usually went on for 5-10 minutes and the streets would fill with that heavy, gray, smoke after it was done.

Street Party's
For five nights, the streets in my neighborhood were shut down and musicians of all kind could set up on a stage and place essentially whatever they wanted. There were DJ's, band, guitarists, and whatever else you can think of. Young people crowded the streets, threw fireworks, shared drinks, and danced all night. The street party's were some of the most fun I have ever had. You could talk to others and meet people with ease or dance in your own little world to the right of the stage. I wish they happened every weekend.

Fallas Burning
Each one was burnt from the inside out. They lined the inside with fireworks and would light them one at a time. Don't ask me how that qualifies as a controlled burn but none of the buildings caught on fire. They all burnt so fast that it was over in a matter of maybe 4 minutes no matter how big it was.

Cons
The noise never stopped. My evening naps were interrupted by a huge fire work show at 2pm everyday and shook my windows so hard I worried they might break. Once the huge firework show was over, people in the streets would start to light off their own. The kids here would throw them at your feet and some of the boys will throw them at you. The amount of people in Valencia also grew exponentially. I have never seen streets so crowded with people, not even at the music festivals I go to. The buses were rerouted and some even stopped running. Eating out was impossible because every restaurant was full.

Overall
Despite the cons, Fallas was a once in a life time experience that I will never forget. Usually, it doesn't rain often in Valencia but for the past five years it has rained the night of the burning, which left us all drenched and chilly. The last two pictures are my favorite because one is from when I was here in 2015 and the other was from this year. Crazy how time flies.

2015

2019