Fallas, Festival of Burning
The reason the people of Valencia, Spain celebrate Fallas, with all its gunpowder and explosives is not primarily religious, but simply because they can. There is no reason not to do it. Each Falla, or giant Styrofoam sculpture, is unique, and every neighborhood in the city creates one major Falla and one for their children. The whole festival is on a giant scale, employing huge amounts of time, energy and gunpowder in each fireworks show. Fallas lasts for an entire month, and culminates in 3 days of explosives, parties and traditional processions.
Our friend Denis from Dublin, Ireland, highly recommends a locally produced video (Video Fallas 2005), which describes the 3 essential parts of Fallas:
1) The Mascleta, which is the afternoon blow out provided by each neighborhood organization, every day of the 3 main festival days; the Ayuntamiento provides the major Mascleta every afternoon for the 3 weeks leading up to the night of the burnings, on March 19th (St. Josephs day).
2) The Ofrenda, the process of bringing bouquets of carnations to the giant statue of the Virgin in the Plaza de la Virgen. The wooden frame of the Virgins dress begins as bare slats of wood. Beginning on Thursday, March 17th, each neighborhood group of Falleras walks in a procession, escorted by their local brass band, toward the Plaza, bringing their bouquet to contribute to the gown. The order of offering is carefully orchestrated so there will be exactly the right number of each color of carnation (white, red and pink), as well as a constant flow of Falleras arriving in the Plaza. The Ofrenda is completed on the night of the 18th.
3) The Burning, the culmination of Fallas on the night of March 19th. Each neighborhood Falla is doused with gasoline and set alight with hundreds of fireworks. The official guide book says the Fallas all burn at midnight, but this is impossible because the Bomberos, or firemen, must be present throughout the entire process. Even though they come from miles around to help speed up the process, there are still not enough firemen for each Falla, so they have to move from burning to burning.
Each neighborhood begins by burning the Falla Infantile, which is the children's sculpture. Local Falla officials handle this burning, and afterwards, the children are allowed to toss their remaining firecrackers into the fire. The major burnings begin with the giant Falla in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, although we don't know for sure this is how it began. Then the firemen move from Falla to Falla. We realized this is actually good for the spectator, who can move with them and get the most out of their viewing, by seeing as many as possible.
Our friend Denis from Dublin, Ireland, highly recommends a locally produced video (Video Fallas 2005), which describes the 3 essential parts of Fallas:
1) The Mascleta, which is the afternoon blow out provided by each neighborhood organization, every day of the 3 main festival days; the Ayuntamiento provides the major Mascleta every afternoon for the 3 weeks leading up to the night of the burnings, on March 19th (St. Josephs day).
2) The Ofrenda, the process of bringing bouquets of carnations to the giant statue of the Virgin in the Plaza de la Virgen. The wooden frame of the Virgins dress begins as bare slats of wood. Beginning on Thursday, March 17th, each neighborhood group of Falleras walks in a procession, escorted by their local brass band, toward the Plaza, bringing their bouquet to contribute to the gown. The order of offering is carefully orchestrated so there will be exactly the right number of each color of carnation (white, red and pink), as well as a constant flow of Falleras arriving in the Plaza. The Ofrenda is completed on the night of the 18th.
3) The Burning, the culmination of Fallas on the night of March 19th. Each neighborhood Falla is doused with gasoline and set alight with hundreds of fireworks. The official guide book says the Fallas all burn at midnight, but this is impossible because the Bomberos, or firemen, must be present throughout the entire process. Even though they come from miles around to help speed up the process, there are still not enough firemen for each Falla, so they have to move from burning to burning.
Each neighborhood begins by burning the Falla Infantile, which is the children's sculpture. Local Falla officials handle this burning, and afterwards, the children are allowed to toss their remaining firecrackers into the fire. The major burnings begin with the giant Falla in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, although we don't know for sure this is how it began. Then the firemen move from Falla to Falla. We realized this is actually good for the spectator, who can move with them and get the most out of their viewing, by seeing as many as possible.
posted by Mark and Margot at 7:54 AM
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