UNIVERSAL ARTS SCHOOL since 1994
If you visit Valencia from March 1 to 19, you cannot miss the Fallas celebration, a festival that combines tradition, satire and art and is one of the most important in the city. If you want to enjoy the party like a local from Valencia, read on to understand where our passion for fire and fun comes from.
Las Fallas is a festival celebrated in honor of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, and which has become a symbol of Valencian culture.
Its origin is found in an ancient custom of the carpenters who, celebrating the arrival of spring, on the night of the 19th, burned the pieces of wood (parots) in front of their workshops that they used to raise the lamps that illuminated them during the winter.<
Little by little, they added to this purifying fire old junk and rags, which humanized the parots until they turned them into ninots. The humor of the Valencians soon gave these ninots the critical and ironic sense that they maintain today.
Today, the fallas have evolved into ephemeral works of art that, in some cases, have million-dollar budgets.
- Fallas Week: From March 15 to 19
- Mascletàs: From March 1 to 19 every day at 2:00 p.m. in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
- Castles of Fire: From March 15 to 18. Every night in the Jardines del Turia (Alameda).
- Flower Offering: March 17 and 18. Plaza de la Virgen.
- La Cremà: March 19. Fallas Infantiles: 20 hours Fallas Grandes: 22 hours
Our love for fire is comparable only to our passion for gunpowder. And the mascletà is conclusive proof of this. The name of this event derives from the "masclet", the type of explosives that are detonated in large quantities when the Fallera Mayor pronounces her traditional phrase: “Senyor pyrotechnic pot començar la mascletà”.
To enjoy this sound show, it is necessary to go to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 2:00 p.m., from March 1 to 19. Remember to keep your mouth slightly open to prevent the 120 decibels reached from damaging your hearing!
The early morning of March 15-16 is a night full of frenetic activity. The members of the Fallas commissions work hard, since all the Fallas structures that are erected in Valencia must be completed before dawn on the 16th. On that day, a group of experts awards recognition to the best Fallas and selects the pardoned ninot, the only one that will escape being consumed by the flames during the Cremà.
On the morning of the 17th, the older falleras and their commissions go on parades to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento to collect their corresponding prize. You should know that the more than 750 monuments, between large and children, that are planted in Valencia are divided into categories, the Special Section being the most impressive of all.
The nights of Fallas, the sky of Valencia is filled with light and color thanks to the impressive fireworks that go off at midnight on Paseo de la Alameda. An act that brings together a multitude of people and gains in spectacularity during the "Nit del Foc", a unique fireworks display in the world that takes place at dawn on the 18th.
All the fallas commissions of the city parade from their neighborhoods to the Plaza de la Virgen to make an offering of flowers to the Virgen de los Desamparados, patron saint of Valencia. The ceremony lasts from 4:00 p.m. until late at night, and with the branches an impressive 15-meter-high tapestry is made that decorates the Virgin's cloak.
Visiting the square covered with flowers, after 2 days of offering, is an olfactory experience that is well worth it, we recommend it!
All fallas, infantile and large, must burn on the night of the 19th. Even if it pains you, contemplating how the flames end up reducing these monuments to ashes is a spectacle and an art in itself. So put on comfortable shoes and get ready to do the cremà route like a Valencian: at 8:00 p.m. the children's monuments begin to burn and at 10:00 p.m. the big fallas are burned, except for the 1st prize that is burned at 10:00 p.m. :30. The Fallas end when the Fallas del Ayuntamiento burns, which burns at 11:00 p.m.
They say that everyone should come to Las Fallas once in their life, although we warn you that, with everything you have to see, this party always leaves you wanting more. We will wait for you!
If you want to deepen your knowledge of the Fallas at any time of the year, an unmissable visit is to the Museum of the Artisan Guild of Fallas Artists. This museum houses an exhibition of sculptures that, due to their artistic value, have been preserved from the traditional burning that occurs on March 19, the night all the Fallas burn. In fact, these works have been selected by the artists of the guild that gives its name to the museum, a professional association that keeps alive the trades related to the creation of the Fallas.
Inside you can breathe the essence of the Fallas. You can see pencil sketches, watercolors, models and photographs of fallas from all periods, as well as the interesting "parots", predecessors of the ninots, which are the figures that make up each fallero monument.
- How to get there: Bus: 12, 28.
- Telephone: 963 476 585
- Website: http://www.gremiodeartistasfalleros.com/
- Hours: From Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays: closed.
The Fallas Museum of Valencia is presented as the ideal choice to discover the essence of the Fallas at any time of the year, especially for those who cannot visit the city during this celebration. Those who have had the wonderful opportunity to live the Fallas experience know that when the night of March 19 arrives, all the Fallas burn in the traditional cremà, leaving behind ashes and a wealth of emotional memories. However, all the flaws? Not quite. Every year, a couple of privileged ninots (the figures that make up the Fallas monuments) manage to escape the fire, and the museum exhibits all those who have been saved from the flames since 1934.
How to get there: Bus: 13, 14, 15, 18, 24, 25, 95. Metro: L10
Telephone: +34 96 208 46 25
Website: https://www.valencia.es/apps/tickets/tickets.php?c=18
Schedules:
From Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (last entry at 6:00 p.m.).
Sundays and holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (last entry at 1:00 p.m.).
Closing days January 1 and 6, May 1 and December 25
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